British health authority HSA has detected 116 poliovirus, which causes the dreaded disease, in 19 samples taken this year in sewers in London. The office first drew attention to the discovery of the virus in June. The number of polioviruses that have been detected and the genetic diversity suggest that transmission occurred in a number of areas of London.

There have been no cases of this viral disease in London, so the vaccination campaign is preventive. Parents of children of the appropriate age will begin to be called by the general practitioner of their offspring from September. A booster dose of polio vaccination will cover about 900,000 children in and around London.

Polio vaccination rates vary widely in different parts of London. But on average, it doesn’t even reach 95 percent, which is the limit at which, according to the World Health Organization, the virus can be controlled.

Reuters warned that the virus caught in London may have come from children vaccinated with a type of vaccine with an attenuated virus. It is no longer used in the UK, but is still used overseas.

In the United States in July, they recorded the first polio case in ten years in an unvaccinated patient who later became paralyzed. According to British health authorities, it is related to the findings in London.

In the past, polio has killed and crippled thousands of children around the world. There is no cure, but vaccinations have slowed its spread. Since 1961, thanks to mandatory vaccination, it has not happened in our country, throughout Europe only since 2003.