Four wastewater samples were collected in July and August in Sullivan County, northwest of Orange County. CNN previously reported that polio had been identified in wastewater samples from Rockland County, Orange County and New York City. The state health department announced Friday that samples from Sullivan County were genetically linked to a previously identified case of polio in Rockland County, where a man was diagnosed with paralytic polio.
Health officials on Friday warned of an expanding community spread of the virus.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said in a statement, “One New Yorker paralyzed with polio is already too many, and I don’t want to see another paralytic case.” “Polio in New York today is an imminent threat to all adults and children who are not up-to-date or up-to-date with their polio vaccinations. Every New Yorker, parent, guardian, and pediatrician should ensure that Every effort should be made to ensure that they, their children, and their patients are protected from this dangerous, debilitating disease through safe and effective vaccination.”
Polio can cause incurable paralysis and death, but most people in the US are protected by vaccination. However, vaccination rates are low in many New York counties. As of August 1, Rockland County’s polio vaccination rate was 60.34%, the release shows. Orange County has 58.68% and Sullivan County has 62.33%. New York’s statewide polio vaccination average is 78.96% for children who have received three polio vaccinations before their second birthday.
After a young adult was diagnosed with polio in Rockland County in June, the state health department launched wastewater monitoring in partnership with local health officials and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far, the state has identified only one case of polio. However, many cases of polio are asymptomatic, and individuals can spread the virus even if they do not experience symptoms.
Earlier this month, Dr. Jose Romero, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the polio case identified in New York is “the very tip of the iceberg” and an indication that “there must be several hundred “Matters Circulating in the Community.”
(This story has not been edited by seemayo staff and is published from a rss feed)