The employee of a Dutch vaccine manufacturer, who was infected with the polio virus in early April, is no longer carrying the virus. No other people were infected, and the employee can no longer infect others. The Municipal Health Service will now terminate the daily monitoring of the employee and his household contacts. All precautionary measures have been lifted.
Because the employee was vaccinated, he himself could not develop the paralytic illness caused by the polio virus. However, the employee did carry the virus, and could have spread it through secretion in faeces. The employee was isolated at home. The Municipal Health Service frequently tested the employee and his surroundings for the presence of the polio virus. The excretion of the polio virus ended after 29 days, and there is no more risk of contamination of the environment. The intensive monitoring and strict hygiene measures at home prevented the infection of other people. The intensification of sewer water surveillance is also downscaled.
Polio vaccination
In the Netherlands, children from the age of two months are vaccinated against polio. As a result, the majority of the population is protected against this disease. Nevertheless, it is important to take targeted measures regarding a person who has been infected, because some people in the Netherlands have not been vaccinated against polio and are at risk of acquiring the disease.