London polio vaccine take-up rate is 16%, figures suggest

The take-up rate of extra polio vaccinations for young children in London which were offered after the virus was found in the waste water system is 16%, NHS figures show.

The programme began in August after tests at Beckton Sewage Works found the disease.

Immunisation experts recommend all children aged between one and nine should receive the jab.

Although rare, polio can cause paralysis especially in young children.

Analysis of the sewage system has also found the virus in:

The aim of the vaccine is to reduce the risk to the individual child but also to raise overall immunity levels to make it harder for the virus to spread.

The jab is available for all children in the one to nine age group, whether they are on schedule with the standard childhood inoculations or not.

In the former group, the vaccine would act as a booster and in the latter, it would bring the immunisation up to date.