![]() A global push is underway to transition all countries to the injectable polio vaccine. It now exclusively uses inactivated poliovirus vaccine, which is given as an injection in the leg or arm.īut other countries continue to use the oral polio vaccine today, in part, due to the fact that the injectable vaccine is more costly and complex to administer. stopped using oral polio vaccine in 2000, citing the rare risk of vaccine-derived cases. That is called post-polio syndrome.ģ shots over 7 months: How to catch up on polio vaccination What is a vaccine-derived poliovirus?Ī vaccine-derived poliovirus is a strain related to the weakened live poliovirus contained in oral polio vaccine, CDC says. "That's another reason prevention is so important," Schaffner said.īetween two and 10 out of 100 people who have paralysis from poliovirus infection die, because the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe, CDC says.Įven children who seem to fully recover can develop new muscle pain, weakness, or paralysis as adults, 15 to 40 years later. ![]() But, in many cases, the paralysis is permanent. “We’re treating polio the same way we did now as we did 40 years ago, however, our ventilators are better and we don’t use iron lungs,” Schaffner said, noting no antiviral treatments for polio exist.įor the people facing varying levels of polio paralysis, the treatment generally consists of rehabilitation to maximize functionality, he added. In many ways, polio remains an incurable infectious disease despite decades of medical developments since vaccines all but eliminated the virus’ spread in the U.S. And about one out of four people infected will have flu-like, including sore throat, fever and headache.Ī smaller proportion of people − less than one out of 100, or one to five out of 1,000 − with poliovirus infection will develop other, more serious symptoms that affect the brain and spinal cord, including paralysis, the CDC noted. In general, most people infected with poliovirus, roughly about 72 out of 100, will not have any visible symptoms, the CDC said. Rockland County, for example, has a 60% vaccination rate for the age group. Some counties in New York also lag behind the statewide vaccination rate for kids at age 2, which stands at about 79%. And growing numbers of Americans joining the national anti-vaccination movement, according to national polling and legislative efforts, also potentially contributed to the rise in homeschooling, although COVID-19 mandates and concerns likely played a role as well. The number of parents homeschooling children in New York has also increased since 2019, suggesting some of those religious exemption cases prompted parents to pull kids from classrooms to avoid vaccination.Ībout 54,400 school children were homeschooled last school year, a 65% increase from 33,000 kids homeschooled in the 2019-20 school year, state data show. Since the religious exemption ended, many schools have pushed to boost vaccination rates among children previously claiming the exemption, a group of about 26,000 kids statewide, or 1% of school children in 2018. The lagging schools include private and public schools from across the state, as well as several Orthodox Jewish communities in Rockland and Orange counties, which were central to debate over the repeal of the religious exemption to school vaccinations in 2019.Ĭheck your district: Polio vaccinations lag at some schools While only 2% of all schools statewide have polio vaccination rates below 90%, some schools lag behind. William Schaffner, an Infectious Diseases Society of America expert, noting polio vaccines offer near complete protection against illness. “It’s tragic because it’s a completely preventable occurrence,” said Dr. They also urged thousands of unvaccinated New Yorkers, including those in the outbreak epicenter in Rockland and Orange counties, to get shots and curb the virus’ spread. Officials offered a public health crash course on everything from how polio spreads to who is at risk of being paralyzed due to infection. As New York’s polio outbreak potentially spreads to hundreds of people, authorities are sounding alarms about the resurgent infectious disease that plagued past generations before being eradicated by vaccines decades ago.įor many New Yorkers − especially those born after the early 1950s when polio disabled more than 35,000 Americans per year prior to widespread vaccination − the health alerts raised sprawling questions about the once-feared virus that had been nearly forgotten.
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