First US polio case in almost a decade reported in New York

• New York health authorities reported a case of polio —the first in the US in nearly a decade.
• The case was detected in an unvaccinated adult.
• Investigators are trying to figure out how the infection occurred.

An unvaccinated young adult in New York recently contracted polio. It’s the first case in the United States in nearly a decade, health officials said Thursday, July 21. Authorities said the patient, who lives in Rockland County, had developed paralysis, reported The Associated Press.

The infected person developed symptoms a month ago and has not recently traveled outside the country, county health officials said. It appears the patient had a vaccine-derived strain of the virus, perhaps from someone who received a live vaccine, available in other countries but not in the US, and spread it, officials said.

Is polio contagious?

The person is no longer considered contagious but researchers are trying to find out how the infection occurred and if other people were exposed to the virus. Most Americans are vaccinated against polio, but this should serve as a wake-up call for the unvaccinated, said Jennifer Nuzzo, a pandemic researcher at Brown University.

«This is not normal. We don’t want to see this,” Nuzzo said. “If you’re vaccinated, it’s not something you need to worry about. But if you have not vaccinated your children, it is very important that you make sure they are up to date.” Filed Under: Polio Case Recorded in New York

Authorities announce measures to prevent polio

According to the AP, health officials have scheduled vaccination clinics in New York for Friday and Monday, encouraging anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated to get one. “We want vaccines in the arms of those who need them,” Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, Rockland County health commissioner, said at a news conference Thursday.

Polio was once one of the most feared diseases in the country, with annual outbreaks causing thousands of cases of paralysis. The disease mainly affects children. Vaccines became available beginning in 1955 and a national vaccination campaign reduced the annual number of cases in the United States to less than 100 in the 1960s and less than 10 in the 1970s, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Filed Under: Polio Case Recorded in New York

Could polio return?

The United States declared polio eradicated in 1979, meaning it was no longer routinely spread. Rarely, travelers have brought polio infections to the US. The last such case was in 2013, when a 7-month-old boy who had recently moved to the US from India was diagnosed in San Antonio, Texas, according to federal health officials. That child also had the type of polio found in the live form of the vaccine used in other countries.

There are two types of polio vaccines. The US and many other countries use injections made with an inactive version of the virus. But some countries where polio has been a more recent threat use a weakened live virus that is given to children as drops in the mouth. On rare occasions, the weakened virus can mutate into a form capable of causing new outbreaks. Filed Under: Polio Case Recorded in New York

How is polio transmitted?

US children are still routinely vaccinated against polio with the inactivated vaccine. Federal officials recommend four doses to be given at 2 months of age, 4 months, at 6 to 18 months and at the age of 4 to 6 years. Some states require only three doses. According to the most recent CDC childhood immunization data, about 93% of 2-year-olds had received at least three doses of polio vaccine.

Poliomyelitis is transmitted mainly from person to person through contaminated water. It can infect a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis and possibly permanent disability and death. Polio is endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, although numerous countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia have also reported cases in recent years. Filed Under: Polio Case Recorded in New York