Opinion: Polio in New York: A call to action for U.S. pediatricians and public health to work together
A nightmare for pediatricians became a reality earlier this month: Polio, which was previously thought to be eliminated in the U.S., paralyzed an unvaccinated adult, and the virus was found in the wastewater in New York City and outlying counties.
This case of polio was particularly worrisome for three reasons. First, the person had not recently traveled, indicating that he got infected with the virus in the U.S., not overseas. Second, the strain of polio that infected him (type 2) causes paralysis in about 1 in 2,000 infections, suggesting there have been hundreds and possibly thousands of persons recently infected with the virus in New York. Third, genetic analysis indicated that the strain of polio is one that evolved from an oral polio vaccine — which uses a weakened live virus — and is identical to the strain that has caused community transmission in London and Israel, indicating this is problem in multiple countries that were previously considered polio-free.
