Catalonia recommends polio vaccination for children aged 6 to 8 years after the discovery of the virus in Besos.

Catalan Health Department recommended polio vaccination unimmunized children aged 6 to 8 years after the discovery of the virus this Thursday at the Besos wastewater treatment plant (Barcelona).

As El Periódico reported this Friday, starting next week the ministry will send out SMS messages so that families can contact primary health care centers (CAPs) to vaccinate children in this age group in the Barcelona area.

In a statement to Europa Press, the Minister of Health of the Generalitat: Esteve Fernandez, stated that in two years “support immunity” at six years of age, and that parents are now encouraged to vaccinate their children with this dose if they do not have it.

The Ministry of Health checks whether there are infected people

Regular microbiological analyzes of wastewater showed this Thursday the presence of poliovirus circulating in the Besos sewage treatment plant, and the Ministry of Health is conducting an investigation to identify the presence of infected people.

The Ministry of Public Health and the Barcelona Public Health Agency have activated poliovirus circulation monitoring protocol in the Barcelona agglomeration with intensified wastewater analysis and active case detection in health centers.

In addition, notifications were sent to the Center for Health and Emergency Alerts (Ccaes), samples were sent to National Center for Microbiology and the actions included in the Spanish Action Plan for the Elimination of Poliomerite have been implemented.