The first case of polio in 10 years has been confirmed in the United States. Let’s talk about what we know. The last time this disease was diagnosed in the United States was almost 10 years ago.
Polio first case confirmed in the United States in 10 years
A case of polio has been identified and confirmed in suburban New York, the New York State Department of Health said Thursday. This was the first case of the disease in almost 10 years.
Analyzes indicated that the Rockland County case of the virus may have originated outside the United States, the department said in a statement.
A local resident came to the doctors of Rockland County in the state of New York with signs of the disease. The test showed a positive result for this disease. What does a person become infected with the so-called revertant – reverse strain, that is, one that mutated from a live oral vaccine. The disease has not appeared in the States for almost ten years, since 2013, and then the last case was also vaccine-associated.
But the fact is that in the US, as in many other countries, a live vaccine ( in the form of drops in the mouth ) has been banned since 2000. The oral vaccine contains non- attenuated polio viruses , which can be passed into the environment in the stool of a vaccinated person. In rare cases, they mutate in the opposite direction, becoming again like “wild” polio. Under contact with him, not fully vaccinated people can become infected, informs Live Science Portal.
Because of this risk, it was decided to use only inactivated polio vaccines. However, a Rockland resident was emergency polio vaccinations for all comers have been announced in state health facilities. Physicians have been warned to pay close attention to symptoms that may be associated with the onset of the disease.
What exactly is Polio(Poliomyelitis)?
Poliomyelitis is a dangerous and crippling virus that most often affects children under the age of five and can lead to paralysis and death. Thanks to vaccination in recent decades in developed countries, the incidence has been practically eliminated – it has decreased by 99%. In the United States, the last cases of a natural strain of this virus were reported in 1979.
The virus mutated from a live vaccine is weaker than the “wild” polio that exists today only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, it can also cause paralysis in an unvaccinated person. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, eradicating the disease will require all countries to phase out oral vaccines .iagnosed with the Sabin type 2 polio reversal virus based on test results.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and working with the New York State Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to respond to this… issue… and protect the health and well-being of the county’s residents,” the statement said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which confirmed the case, said there had been no cases of this disease in the United States since 1979. However, in 2013, a case was documented in the United States caused by a live strain used in vaccination.
Symptoms of polio include a flu-like condition, sore throat, fever, fatigue, and nausea.
Poliomyelitis affects the nervous system and can cause permanent paralysis within hours. It cannot be cured, but the infection can be prevented by vaccination, and the dramatic decline in worldwide cases in recent decades has been due to intensive national and regional infant and child immunization campaigns.
In the late 1940s, when this disease vaccines were not yet available, outbreaks of the virus claimed the lives of about 35,000 Americans each year.
In June, polio was found in sewage samples in London, the first indication since the 1980s that the virus could be spreading in England, but no cases have been found, authorities said.
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