April 25, 2024

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New York state health officials urge people to get vaccinated after polio virus detected in sewage

New York state health officials urge people to get vaccinated after polio virus detected in sewage



 

New York state health officials urge people to get vaccinated after polio virus detected in sewage.

Last month, the United States saw its first case of polio in about a decade, CNET reported.

Now, after the polio virus was detected in sewage in two upstate New York counties, New York state health officials are encouraging everyone in the state to make sure they get vaccinated.

 

 

New York state health officials urge people to get vaccinated after polio virus detected in sewage

 

Samples in the sewage were genetically linked to cases of unvaccinated people who tested positive for polio in July, suggesting local transmission of the virus in this part of the state.

Health officials stressed that this does not mean that a person who contracted polio last month was the source of transmission, and the investigation into the case is still ongoing.

 

But they also emphasized that everyone in New York State, including the city and the larger metropolitan area, needs to be vaccinated if they were not vaccinated as children.

 

“Based on early polio outbreaks, New Yorkers should know that for every observed case of polio, hundreds of people may become infected,” Dr. Mary T. Bassett, director of the New York State Department of Health, said in a release . “Combined with the latest sewage treatment results, the Health Authority is viewing this single case of polio as the tip of a larger iceberg of potential transmission,” he said.

 

New York state health officials urge people to get vaccinated after polio virus detected in sewage

 

 

Polio is a viral disease that crippled more than 35,000 people each year until there was no vaccine in the 1940s.

In 1979, it was declared eliminated in the United States. Most people with polio have mild or no symptoms, but others become paralyzed or die.

 

Most people today were vaccinated against polio as children, and it is mandatory to attend public schools in New York.

However, Rockland and Orange counties, where the polio virus was found in sewage, had polio vaccination rates of about 60 percent and 59 percent, respectively, compared with the statewide average of about 79 percent, health officials said Rockland County also had a measles outbreak in 2018-19, which was associated with below-average vaccination rates.

 

In the United States, the existing polio vaccine — recommended as a four-dose series usually from 2 months to 6 years of age — is 99 percent effective at preventing polio.

While it’s not known how long the vaccine will keep people immune to polio, according to the CDC, people may be protected for years after being vaccinated.

Some adults, including those who travel to certain countries and some health care or laboratory workers, may be advised to receive another vaccine after childhood.

 

The New York State Department of Health recommends that all children and infants start their polio vaccine series immediately if they have not already started.

The health department also recommends that adults get three doses of the polio vaccine if they are not vaccinated, or if they are unsure if they have been vaccinated.

Adults who start a polio vaccine series but don’t finish should also get the last one or two doses (regardless of when they started); some people at increased risk for polio may get vaccinated if they have already been vaccinated Strengthen the needle.

 

 

 

 

 

New York state health officials urge people to get vaccinated after polio virus detected in sewage

(source:internet, reference only)


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