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Polio

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:39 pm
by Stranger Mouse
Does anyone know what polio vaccination rates have been like in the last few years?


https://twitter.com/martinbagot/status/ ... Wef2bNtfHQ

Re: Polio

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:26 pm
by bagpuss
Looks like in England it's been above 92% every year for over a decade*. It has dropped off a little in the last couple of years - it was over 94% from 2010/11 to 2014/15 and down to just over 92% from 2018/19 to 2020/21. That's completed courses by first birthday. Add slightly less than 2 percentage points for completed courses by 2nd birthday. Completed by 5th birthday is over 95%, but obviously that doesn't include the drop off in the last few years as the kids included in the "by 1st birthday" stats in those 3 years hadn't reached their 5th birthdays in time to be included in this data.

Looking by region, it looks like London is 3-4 percentage points below the average, so if an outbreak is going to happen anywhere, not surprising that it's there. Given how hugely Covid vax rates varied by London borough, I would expect that polio vax rates are also even lower in some parts of London.



*Scroll to the bottom of the page and download the xlsx to get the full data tables.

Edit: changed the comment about London as it's more relevant than I'd realised - hadn't read the full article before posting, just the headline.

Re: Polio

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:39 pm
by bagpuss
Finally made it to the end of the spreadsheet and found the more granular stats which break down to London boroughs for the year 2020-21. And bl..dy hell, Hackney is low - a mere 67.8% vaxxed by 1st birthday, compared with England national average for that year of 92%. No other Local Authority has rates below 80%.

Re: Polio

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 3:22 pm
by lpm
Might be a denominator problem. Nobody knows the population of London, let alone children in Hackney.

Re: Polio

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 3:31 pm
by bagpuss
lpm wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 3:22 pm
Might be a denominator problem. Nobody knows the population of London, let alone children in Hackney.
Hmmmm, it's a good point. But to increase the vax rates, there would have to be far fewer young children in Hackney than they're thinking, which seems to be the more unlikely way round. I'll have a look to see what it says about the source of stats, but it would seem logical for them to use the database that they use to invite kids for their vaccinations.

There is a note that the Hackney stats include the City of London, but I'm struggling to see how that would bring the rates crashing down either.

Re: Polio

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 6:49 pm
by Bird on a Fire
Faecal-oral transmitted disease makes comeback after government decides to allow water companies to dump untreated sewage in rivers and coasts for millions of hours per year.

Gee golly what a headscratcher. Maybe there's a reason the country used to have basic sanitation?

Re: Polio

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 7:43 pm
by Boustrophedon
If it really is 'vaccine derived polio virus' then it's a gift to the antivaxxers.

Re: Polio

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 9:32 pm
by jdc
Unlikely to be derived from a vaccine administered in the UK then, Don. Inactivated polio vaccine doesn't contain live virus, so people who receive this vaccine don't shed the virus, and the UK switched from using the oral polio vaccine to IPV in 2004.

Re: Polio

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 11:09 pm
by Boustrophedon
jdc wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 9:32 pm
Unlikely to be derived from a vaccine administered in the UK then, Don. Inactivated polio vaccine doesn't contain live virus, so people who receive this vaccine don't shed the virus, and the UK switched from using the oral polio vaccine to IPV in 2004.
But third world countries are still using oral polio vaccine. See here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... IwTI6A2V1c

Re: Polio

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 7:56 am
by tom p
bagpuss wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:39 pm
Finally made it to the end of the spreadsheet and found the more granular stats which break down to London boroughs for the year 2020-21. And bl..dy hell, Hackney is low - a mere 67.8% vaxxed by 1st birthday, compared with England national average for that year of 92%. No other Local Authority has rates below 80%.
The borough of acne contains Stamford Hill, which is home to a very large ultra-orthodox jewish community, which typically has exceedingly low vaccination rates and very high birth rates. That's going to have a significant impact on the figures.
ETA: I expect acne's sewage goes to beckton too

Re: Polio

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 5:53 pm
by Tessa K
The focus is on vaccinating kids but what about adults? I was vaccinated as a kid but that will have worn off by now. Are adults at risk?

Re: Polio

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 6:25 pm
by Gfamily
Tessa K wrote:
Fri Jun 24, 2022 5:53 pm
The focus is on vaccinating kids but what about adults? I was vaccinated as a kid but that will have worn off by now. Are adults at risk?
If the polio being found is basically the live attenuated vaccine used elsewhere for vaccinations, I don't know whether it poses any more of a risk than the vaccine does.

A quick google suggests that polio vaccines last for about 10 years.

Re: Polio

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 10:57 pm
by JQH
I should probably think about being revaccinated then as mine was over half a century ago.