Polio in Europe?

CDC’s list of destinations with circulating poliovirus includes
European countries such as Germany, Finland, Poland, and the U.K.

I’d be very interested to see the basis of these findings.
I presume it relates to when traces were found in London sewage back in 2022?

Obviously you should ensure your vaccinations are fully up to date but the risk of polio in the UK is minuscule and probably no different to the risk in the USA.

If anyone wants to geek out on the situation this NHS report might be of interest

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inactivated-polio-vaccine-ipv-booster-information-for-healthcare-practitioners/polio-immunisation-response-in-london-2022-to-2023-information-for-healthcare-practitioners

There was a case in New York here in 2022 and evidence of others.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9577438/

And reasons, mostly political, why it's re-surging in other places.

https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/why-polio-is-making-comeback

[snip]
Over two years ago, we talked about a serious polio threat in the New York area, when one person developed paralytic poliomyelitis and wastewater detected the virus in several adjoining and nearby counties.

I’d be very interested to see the basis of these findings.

If you look at the map shown in the CDC link from the OP it just shows countries where the polio virus was detected in last 12 months. It does not specify the number of cases.

I googled polio in Finland and Germany and found articles about the virus being detected in wastewater.
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/detection-wild-poliovirus-wastewater-germany-risk-and-recommendations
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/update-wastewater-poliovirus-detections-eu-call-continued-surveillance-and-maintaining

Thanks for sharing this. If the CDC recommends it, and I'm going to one of those countries, it seems prudent to get an adult booster. I don't need to know how many cases there are/were - clearly enough for the generally restrained CDC to update their guidance. As with so many things, each person can decide how much risk they enjoy.

I was interested to see the underlying data that was used to produce the map.

I’m not arguing the findings but I’m not sure the phrase ‘destinations with circulating poliovirus’ in the CDC post is helpful to inform the average tourist with the actual level of risk, which is very low.

I agree with Emma. There is a big difference between finding the virus in wastewater and having an outbreak of the disease. And while everyone should have received the full series of polio vaccines as a child, note what the CDC advisory actually says: "adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series may receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine." Bolding is mine. The advisory says 'may'. Not 'should'. Not 'must'. They didnt recommend, but suggested as an option. Totally up to you as long as you have already been properly immunized.

The second sentence of that paragraph I quoted (from the second link):

[snip]
Less than 1% of all infections result in paralytic polio; when we see wastewater evidence of polio, we know people are being infected, but generally only when we see clinical poliomyelitis do we get to know precisely who was infected. That outbreak extinguished itself without more harm.

I am closer to 80 than to 75. My last Polio shot was in 3rd grade when Jonas Saulk's vaccine was newly introduced. No sense in not getting a booster at this point.

It is a very low level warning and all it really says is to make sure you are up-to-date on vaccination schedule. Given the number of people in the US who aren’t vaccinating their kids, it is probably necessary.

Laura, I am not an expert on the subject, so I will agree with you and pay attention to the warning.

Last year before traveling to a US State with a high number of measles cases, I asked my PCP at my regular check-up if my immunity should still be good since my last vaccine was probably in 1973. He ordered a test. I'm still good.

I'm sure they can test for polio immunity too.

I'm sure they can test for polio immunity too.

Obviously, consult with your doctor but I will share my personal experience regarding the polio booster.

Back in 2003, I got a polio booster on the advice of a travel clinic at an infectious disease physician prior to travel to Africa. At the time, there was a major polio outbreak in one of the African countries and cases in a number of neighboring countries. I was told that the standard polio series that was given in childhood should confer lifetime immunity and I was probably ok. However, they recommended that travelers to areas where there were active cases get a booster out of an abundance of caution. I got the booster.

If you want to see where there have been recent cases, the Polio Eradication Organization has a chart. None of the European countries have had AFP (acute flaccid paralysis) cases in the last 5 years according to this chart. The U.S. had one case in 2022. The European countries referenced above (e.g., Finland, Spain, UK, Germany) were noted as having polio detected in the environment (e.g., wastewater), but no AFP cases.
https://polioeradication.org/circulating-vaccine-derived-poliovirus-count/

I would talk to an infectious disease specialist at a medical school rather than paying attention to the CDC. Remember they weren't even competent to develop a test for Covid.