US reports first polio case in over a decade in New York

Health officials in New York on Thursday revealed a polio case, the first in the United States in a decade.

Officials did not provide information about the Rockland County resident’s identity, vaccination status, or present condition.

State officials said the person looked to have a vaccine-derived form of the virus, possibly from someone who received a live vaccine — available in other countries but not in the United States — and distributed it.

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Polio was previously one of the most feared diseases in the country, with annual outbreaks resulting in thousands of cases of paralysis, many of which were in youngsters.

According to the CDC, vaccines became available in 1955, and a nationwide vaccination effort reduced the annual number of cases to less than 100 in the 1960s and less than 10 in the 1970s.

Polio was declared eradicated in the United States in 1979, indicating that the virus was no longer being propagated on a regular basis in the country. Travelers with polio have carried illnesses into the United States on rare occasions, with the most recent occurrence being in 2013.

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Children in the United States are still frequently immunised against polio. Federal officials propose four doses: two months, four months, six to eighteen months, and four to six years. Some states just require three dosages.

According to the most recent CDC data on childhood immunisation, around 93 percent of 2-year-olds had gotten at least three doses of polio vaccine.

Polio is primarily transmitted from person to person or by contaminated water. It can infect a person’s spinal cord, resulting in paralysis, severe impairment, and death. Children are disproportionately affected by the condition.

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Polio is widespread in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but cases have been documented in a number of African, Middle Eastern, and Asian nations in recent years.

After the polio virus was discovered in London sewage samples last month, health officials in the United Kingdom cautioned parents to ensure their children were immunised. There were no reports of paralysis.