The US needs to prepare to introduce the novel oral polio vaccine

On 13 September 2022, the United States was added to a list compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO) of countries with circulating poliovirus, and joined a group that includes Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Yemen.1 In late July, the New York State Department of Health reported that a person had been paralysed as a result of a polio infection likely acquired in the US.23 This was the first case of domestically acquired infection in the US since 2005.34 Subsequently, the same variant of poliovirus was detected in sewage samples in several counties in New York, indicating that hundreds of thousands of people may have recently been infected.5 In early September, New York State’s governor declared a disaster in the state.The stakes are high to get the public health response right. Although most poliovirus infections cause no or mild symptoms, the virus can cause meningitis (one to five cases…
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