Most children in Britain will have been protected as part of their routine childhood immunisations, but vaccination rates fell during the pandemicPolio is spreading in Britain for the first time since 1984, health officials said yesterday. The NHS will begin a campaign to ensure children are vaccinated, after uptake of routine childhood jabs including polio fell during the coronavirus pandemic. SponsoredThe polio virus mainly affects children under five and causes paralysis in about one in 200 cases. Europe was declared free of polio by the WHO in 2002. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) found the virus in samples in the Beckton Sewage Treatment Works in east London between February and May.

Source: The Times June 23, 2022 00:45 UTC