New evidence suggests that polio is spreading in the state of New York. This led to the Governor of New York declaring a state of emergency. The health officials in the state collected many wastewater samples. They sent them for testing right away. The tests also came back positive for poliovirus.
This poliovirus causes paralysis, as per health officials. There is only one confirmed case of polio. But this polio case came after a very long time. The last polio case was almost a decade ago. The US also started vaccinations in 1995 to eradicate polio. The US was polio-free by 1979.
Many New York officials also believe that vaccination rates have dipped again. This can be one of the reasons behind the spread of the polio virus. The state of emergency will also ensure that vaccination rates rise again. Just like covid-19, we can deal with polio by immunization only.
Prevention is better than cure. This perfectly applies to polio. Polio has no cure as of now. The only thing you can do is to prevent it from happening. However, the only way to prevent it is through vaccination. Polio affects children and can cause paralysis or death.
There is a vaccine coverage of about 79 percent. New York has one of the best state health departments. The department also aims to increase this coverage to 90 percent. However, the department can use their experience from the pandemic as well.
Dr. Mary Bassett is the Health Commissioner. She said that we could not roll the dice on polio. Also, she urged parents to get their children vaccinated. She clarified that getting polio because of no vaccination is very real. The aftermath of the disease is very dangerous as well.
Dr. Mary asserted that there could be many undiagnosed polio-infected people per case. This can lead to a grave situation if the virus is not under control. Vaccination is and has been the key. The difficult part is it affects children more.
Credits: BBC
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