In New York, the first case of polio in a decade: what you need to know about this terrible disease

New York City health officials have confirmed a case of polio in Rockland County. It could be the first confirmed infection in the US since 2013. The last natural cases of polio in the United States were reported in 1979. Writes about it Independent.

The New York City Department of Health reports that the patient most likely became infected from a person who received an oral vaccine. The agency assumes that this disease was brought from abroad, because the US has not administered an oral polio vaccine since 2000.

It is known that the patient is an unvaccinated adult male, his condition is not specified.

Polio is usually transmitted by mouth or airborne droplets. The highly contagious virus attacks the nervous system, causing symptoms such as muscle fatigue and weakness, as well as flu-like symptoms such as fever and headache.

The national vaccination program that followed the success of the vaccine in 1955 dramatically reduced the number of cases of polio in the following decades, with the last natural case reported in 1979. The last known case in the US was reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2013.

The virus also entered the country from traveling people. The last time this happened was in 1993, according to the CDC.

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Polio vaccines have long been part of the school vaccination schedule for all American children.

Vaccines are recommended at 2 months, 4 months, 6 to 18 months, and 4 to 6 years of age. Approximately 93 percent of current 2-year-olds have received at least three doses, according to the CDC.

“Many of you may be too young to remember polio, but when I was growing up, the disease struck fear into families, including my own,” said Rockland County Executive Ed Day. "The fact that it's been nearly decades since the vaccine was created shows how ruthless it is."

On July 22, from 10:00 to 12:00, a vaccination clinic in the Pomona medical complex will operate in the district.

The clinic will be open from 13:00 to 16:00 on July 25.

Health officials recommend that anyone who has not been vaccinated, including pregnant women or those who have not completed their polio vaccination series or fear they have been exposed, get vaccinated at these clinics.