Topline
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Friday declared a state of emergency after poliovirus was detected in the sewage of a fourth county in the state in an effort to boost vaccination rates as some regions lag well behind national vaccination levels.
A member of the medical staff shows an empty vial of polio vaccine.
Key Facts
Poliovirus has most recently been found in wastewater in Nassau County—which includes parts of Long Island—in addition to Rockland, Orange and Sullivan County, the New York Health Department said Friday.
The discovery came after local officials began monitoring wastewater following the first case of vaccine-derived polio—which can still occasionally cause outbreaks, while wild polio has been eliminated in most places except Pakistan and Afghanistan—in nearly a decade in Rockland County in July.
On polio “we simply cannot roll the dice,” State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said, urging New Yorkers to get the vaccine, three doses of which offer anywhere from 99% to 100% protection against the virus.
The emergency order allows more health providers, including midwives, emergency medical services workers and pharmacists to administer the vaccine, while also requiring healthcare providers to send polio immunization data to the New York Department of Health.
Surprising Fact
Vaccination rates in some New York counties are well below national levels. Rockland County had a polio vaccination rate of 60.34% as of August 1, while Orange County has a rate of 58.68%. Nassau County’s vaccination rate is slightly higher at 79.15%, according to local officials. Only 86.2% of children in New York City between the ages of 6 months to 5 years have received three doses of the polio vaccine, a rate that has fallen since 2019, according to health officials, compared to about 92.6% of 2-year-old children in the U.S. who have received three doses of the vaccine.
Tangent
Local health officials in London announced a new vaccination campaign last month to help boost coverage in children under 10 after vaccine-derived poliovirus was detected in wastewater from North and East London for the first time in decades.
Key Background
Polio is a contagious disease transmitted mostly through contact with fecal samples and occasionally coughing and sneezing. Before the polio vaccine was developed in 1955, some 15,000 people a year would develop paralysis from the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Poliovirus has been eliminated in many countries worldwide as a result of mass vaccination campaigns, but vaccine-derived cases have been cropping up in recent years. Those who have been vaccinated with the live virus can shed it in their stool, where it has the ability to spread through wastewater. The virus can then mutate and infect others after contact with the contaminated sewage. New York health officials announced last month poliovirus had been detected in sewage in New York City, after sharing earlier that month samples of the virus had been found in wastewater in two New York counties, including Rockland County, where a 20-year-old unvaccinated man developed paralysis. Polio has no cure but is preventable through vaccination. All children should get four doses of the vaccine, the New York Health Department said.
Further Reading
Poliovirus Identified In New York City Sewage, Health Officials Say (Forbes)
New York declares state of emergency over polio to boost vaccination rate (CNBC)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/09/09/polio-new-york-declares-emergency-after-virus-found-in-fourth-countys-sewage/