The recent detection of poliovirus samples in the sewage and wastewater of the US and the UK has created havoc globally, as viruses seem to be more menacing with the ongoing fight against COVID-19. On the other hand, monkeypox cases are also on the rise. In this context, the discussions around ‘polio’ among the Twitter influencers have spiked more than 200% in the last 90 days (15 May – 15 Aug), over the previous 90-days, according to the Social Media Analytics Platform of GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
The recent spike was noticed in the second week of August, when the UK Health Security Agency announced the rollout of Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) for children between the age of 1 to 10 to prevent the cases of paralysis and interrupt the transmission of Vaccine Derived Polio Virus type 2 (VDPV2) in the community, after the detection of 119 poliovirus isolates from 19 sewerage samples in the London.
In July 2022, the first case of polio in the US since 2013 was detected in Rockland County, New York. It was a type 2 poliovirus and linked with wastewater sampling from London and Jerusalem, according to the CDC. This led to the highest rise in influencer conversations in the third week of the month.
Smitarani Tripathy, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Health experts on Twitter are concerned about the community transmission of the poliovirus, and hence advising vaccination against polio to prevent and stop the resurgence of this dreaded disease as it is considered a global threat and vaccination is the only way to be risk-free.”
GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform captured a few popular influencer opinions on polio:
“It’s worth a reminder that polio is still a PHEIC, along with Covid-19. And soon I expect a PHEIC Declaration for monkeypox. That’ll mean the world is fighting 3 global health emergencies simultaneously. We need vibrant health systems to win.
“#Polio circulating in Britain for the first time in 40 years is a stark reminder of how quickly seemingly dormant viruses can spread and put children at risk. The fight to #EndPolio is possible – but it will take a concerted global effort and renewed focus and funding”
“News that polio has been detected in New York wastewater samples is an urgent reminder: until we #EndPolio for good, it remains a threat to us all. The global eradication strategy must be fully supported to protect people everywhere.”
“Yes but what’s important here is who gets paralyzed: mostly unvaccinated kids. The vaccine prevents this for everyone and if you have gotten it or aren’t sure…GET A POLIO VACCINE. We eliminated it decades ago with only vaccination. We can do it again FFS GET A POLIO VACCINE”
“in NY, yes unvaccinated adults are being recommended get the polio vaccine series, and we use the IPV vaccine in the US, which is not a live vaccine, so safe for immunocompromised.”
“I’m concerned about the increase in vaccine hesitancy and lowered uptake of vaccines we’ve been seeing in the UK during recent years (before everyone blames this on COVID, worth pointing out that drops in polio vaccine uptake predate COVID).”
“Polio is highly contagious, and its detection in wastewater is a red flag anywhere in the world – even in the US. Good sanitation, clean water and hygiene are essential ways to reduce risk, but the simplest and most important step is to be vaccinated! 3/”
