Roughly 1 million children in the greater London area will be offered a polio booster after the virus was detected in multiple samples in the city’s sewer system, health officials said Wednesday.
The vaccine, which was detected in 19 sewer samples between February and July, will be offered to children between the ages of 1 and 9 as a precautionary measure, authorities said. No cases of the virus have been reported in the city. The most serious consequence of those who do get the virus is permanent paralysis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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“It is vital parents ensure their children are fully vaccinated for their age,” Dr. Vanessa Saliba, a consultant epidemiologist at the United Kingdom’s Health Security Agency, said in a press release. “No cases of polio have been reported and for the majority of the population, who are fully vaccinated, the risk is low. But we know the areas in London where the poliovirus is being transmitted have some of the lowest vaccination rates.”
Data from the U.K. Office for National Statistics indicate there are roughly 1 million children of this age in the London area, according to CNN.
The virus is considered highly contagious and is transmitted if a person comes in contact with the droplets from sneezes or coughs or the fecal matter of an infected person. Most infected people do not have any symptoms. However, some people report flulike symptoms such as fevers, fatigue, vomiting, headaches, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs, according to the CDC. Between 1-in-100 and 1-in-1,000 people develop paralysis, with most cases being in young children.
The virus has also been detected in other countries recently, including in New York, when an unvaccinated young adult began experiencing weakness and paralysis. Pakistan, Afghanistan, and parts of Africa have also reported cases, according to the Associated Press.
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Polio was considered a more serious problem before the vaccine was introduced in the 1950s, when 8,000 people would develop paralysis every year, according to the U.K. Health Security Agency release.
Parents of children eligible for the booster will be contacted by their general practitioners within the next month, health officials said.
