The U.K. Health Services Agency (UKHSA) recently published an update highlighting actions in response to detecting a VDPV2 in London sewage samples.
The UKHSA stated on November 14, 2022, primary care colleagues and immunization providers should ensure their patients are up to date with their polio-containing vaccines.
And offer catch-up vaccination to anyone who is un/under-vaccinated.
In the greater London area, an Inactivated Polio Vaccine booster campaign was launched targeting children aged one.
London Remains Focused on Polio Vaccinations
Cholera Vaccines Arrive in Syria
Since the recent cholera outbreak was declared in Syria in September 2022, tens of thousands of suspected acute watery diarrhea (AWD) cases have been reported in all governorates.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced some positive news on November 29, 2022, trucks carrying about two million doses of Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCV) have arrived in Damascus, Syria.
These OCVs will be used in an immunization campaign starting on December 4, 2022, to reach vulnerable people in the highly affected governorates: Aleppo, Ar-Raqqa Al -Hassakeh, and Deir ez-Zor.
Polio Vaccination Doubts Remain
Polio was once a feared disease in the U.S. but was eradicated through an effective and safe vaccination program over the past decades, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
However, the Governor of New York recently extended Executive Order 21.1 until early November 2022 because genetically related poliovirus had been detected in wastewater collected from Kings, Nassau, Orange, Queens, Rockland, and Sullivan counties.
Increase Seen in Years of Life Lost Per COVID-19 Death in 2021
YLL increased 35.7 percent per COVID-19 death in 2021 versus 2020 as median age of COVID-19 deaths decreased
Medical Masks Similar to N95 Respirators for Preventing COVID-19
No significant difference seen with medical masks versus N95 respirators for health care personnel providing care to COVID-19 patients