Despite the belief that polio was eliminated from the U.S. in 1979, a new case was identified in an adult with new-onset paralysis in Rockland County, NY. He was not vaccinated against polio.
The Health Department and the CDC strongly recommend that children and adults in Rockland County and its neighbor, Orange County be vaccinated if they have not already been fully vaccinated.
Although children in the U.S. have been required to be vaccinated against polio in order the go to school, this requirement is not always enforced in parts of the country.
“Polio” is short for poliomyelitis, which got its name for the tendency of the virus to enter the spinal cord and the brain. Damage to the spinal cord can cause paralysis. When the muscles for breathing are involved, death may occur.
Most people (about 72 per 100) who get infected, will not have symptoms. One in four will develop a flu-like illness, which usually resolves. Just about one in 200 will develop paralysis. Fortunately, most people never get paralyzed, but hundreds of people can be exposed in a short amount of time.
The polio virus is spread person-to-person Spread is mainly spread through contact with contaminated feces (poop), for example, by touching a toy that was previously touched by a child whose hands were not completely cleaned. It can also be spread by sneezing or coughing when the virus is in the upper respiratory tract.
I support the recommendation that everyone get vaccinated if they have not been fully vaccinated. Contact your primary care physician, if you are not sure. While on the faculty in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Maryland, I saw a patient with polio, and it was frightening to observe the sudden onset of paralysis of an arm in a young mother.
