Polio vaccine catch-up push to launch in London

London primary-school pupils not afloat vaccinated against polio are to beryllium offered catch-up jabs aft Easter.

The disease, communal successful the UK successful the 1950s, was eliminated by 2003. But poliovirus traces were recovered successful northbound and eastbound London sewage successful aboriginal 2022.

An exigency vaccination-booster run successful London past summertime reached much than 370,000 children.

And successful aboriginal November, the latest tests recovered little of the microorganism - but officials accidental determination is nary country for complacency.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, from the UK Heath Security Agency, told BBC News: "We person aboriginal signs that there's little dispersed of poliovirus successful London - but we volition request 12 months of nary detections earlier the World Health Organization could state that the UK is nary longer an infected country."

Polio causes paralysis successful a precise tiny fig of cases wherever the microorganism attacks the nerves successful the spine and basal of the encephalon - but astir are asymptomatic.

Last month, an eight-year-old successful bluish Israel was paralysed successful an outbreak that saw 3 different children infected. And an unvaccinated antheral was paralysed by the microorganism successful New York.

The vaccination docket is normally:

But lone 88% of London children person had 3 doses by the property of one, compared with 92% successful England arsenic a whole.

"London is simply a precise bustling, municipality metropolis with tons of mobile populations, tons of divers communities," Dr Saliba said.

"We request to prosecute with these communities [so] that we get the messages crossed to them and that we marque vaccine arsenic accessible arsenic possible.

"This is wherefore the NHS is offering vaccinations done schools to children who person missed out."