Polio virus found in New York wastewater: why is it dangerous for residents of the region

Poliovirus was found in sewage samples in New York City, suggesting that the virus is likely to be locally circulating. Writes about it CNN.

“We are dealing with a triple disease: COVID-19 is still spreading, now we have identified polio in our sewage, and we are still dealing with a monkeypox crisis,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said. “We respond to threats as they appear in front of us, and we are ready to deal with them.”

New York City officials stressed the urgent need for timely polio vaccinations.

Most people in the US are protected from polio through vaccination. The primary series of three vaccines provides 99% protection. However, unvaccinated and under-vaccinated people are vulnerable.

“For every case of paralytic polio that is detected, there are hundreds more that are not detected,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett. “The detection of poliovirus in sewage samples in New York City is alarming but not surprising.”

The virus is most often spread through feces and, in less common cases, when a person infected with poliovirus sneezes or coughs. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 90% of people with polio have no visible symptoms. Some people experience flu-like symptoms such as sore throat, fever, fatigue, and nausea.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1 in 25 people develop viral meningitis, an infection of the lining of the spinal cord or brain.

On the subject: Viruses everyone forgot about during COVID are back - behaving in unexpected ways

Approximately 1 in 200 people will be paralyzed and unable to move parts of their body or experience some weakness in their arms and legs. Even children who fully recover from the initial illness may develop muscle pain and weakness years later.

Paralysis can lead to permanent disability and death as it can affect the muscles used for breathing.

City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Wasan said “polio is circulating in our communities and nothing is more important than vaccinating our children to protect them from this virus. If you are an unvaccinated or under-vaccinated adult, please do so now.”

CDC investigates polio in New York

Poliovirus found in sewage following a case of paralytic polio in Rockland County, New York.

A CDC official said the Rockland County case was "the very, very tip of the iceberg" and suggested that "several hundred cases should be circulating in the community."

The agency sent a team of detectives to Rockland County to investigate the case and help with vaccinations. A public health leader who met with the team said investigators were "quite nervous" that polio "could get out of control very quickly and we could have a crisis."

Prior to the invention of the vaccine, polio was considered "one of the most feared diseases in the United States," according to the CDC. In the 1940s in the US, he maimed over 35 people a year on average. When the polio vaccine became available in 000, the number of cases dropped significantly.

The last case in the US was reported almost ten years ago.

Officials say routine vaccination coverage among New York children has declined since 2019, with only 86,2% of New York children aged 6 months to 5 years receiving three doses of polio vaccine, meaning nearly 14% are not fully protected. .

On the subject: Seven years of searching: how a Russian-speaking Jew in the USA invented a vaccine that saved millions of children

Some children have missed vaccination appointments due to the pandemic. Others live in small groups of New York's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, including those in Rockland County, who have chosen not to vaccinate their children.

Other members of the religious Jewish community in Rockland have made efforts to work with health authorities to educate those who refuse to vaccinate their children.

In some areas of New York, vaccination rates are significantly lower than in the rest of the city. In Williamsburg, for example, only 56,3% of children are vaccinated. In Battery Park City - 58%. In Bedford-Stuyvesant/Ocean Hill/Brownsville the figure is 58,4%. Nationally, the vaccination rate for children is almost 93%.

“The risk to New Yorkers is real, but the protection is very simple: get polio vaccinated,” Vasan said. “Polio is completely preventable and its reappearance should be a call to action for everyone.”