On World Polio Day, the focus is on New York and the U.S. for the first time in decades

Nancy Cutler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
·3 min read
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World Polio Day is being marked on Monday. Declared in 1988, Oct. 24 each year highlights global efforts toward a polio-free world. But this year, the focus is also on New York.

A Rockland County man was diagnosed over the summer with the dangerous and virulent illness, once considered eradicated in the U.S. Circulation of the virus has now been documented in Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, Nassau counties, as well as in parts of New York City.

A polio vaccine shot is given at Rockland County's Yeager Health Center in Pomona July 25, 2022.
A polio vaccine shot is given at Rockland County's Yeager Health Center in Pomona July 25, 2022.

A special team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Health have remained in Rockland to focus on efforts to combat polio.

The key, they say, is to boost low vaccination rates in Rockland and other places.

Never vaccinated against polio

In July, Rockland County officials announced that a young man had been paralyzed by polio. The case was alarming because for every case of paralytic polio, there are likely hundreds of other people who had the virus but were asymptomatic or suffered flu-like symptoms. Its spread can be silent and rapid.

In a fraction of cases, the virus can cause paralysis and lead to death.

The man, who suffers permanent paralysis in his legs, had never been vaccinated against the virus.

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While the state's polio vaccination rate for children ages 24 months and younger is about 79%, Rockland County's is at 68% and Orange County is about 58.7%.

A portion of a flyer being distributed by Rockland County and partners alerting people to the presence of polio in the Hudson Valley.
A portion of a flyer being distributed by Rockland County and partners alerting people to the presence of polio in the Hudson Valley.

One Rockland ZIP code, which covers the greater Monsey area, lags at just 37.3% of babies age 2 and under vaccinated. In Orange County, the Monroe area ZIP codes showed a 31% vaccination rate for the same age group.

Since 2019, New York has only allowed medical exemptions for school-age kids, so vaccination rates increase when children start K-12 education, records show.

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Old-fashioned vaccine could be cause and cure

The case of polio appears to have been brought to the U.S. by someone who had received the oral polio vaccine, or OPV, that is no longer used in the U.S.

That old-fashioned vaccine uses a live version that in rare cases can mutate into the virus and then be shed.

Health officials believe that is what occurred in the Rockland County paralytic polio case.

Elwood Ennis, 87, of Bardonia holds a photo from 1950 when he was a polio patient at Helen Hayes Rehabilitation Hospital in West Haverstraw. Friday, August 5, 2022.
Elwood Ennis, 87, of Bardonia holds a photo from 1950 when he was a polio patient at Helen Hayes Rehabilitation Hospital in West Haverstraw. Friday, August 5, 2022.

The inactivated polio vaccine, or IPV, is used in the U.S. and places where the virus is considered no longer active.

The oral OPV polio doses stopped being used in the U.S. in 2000. Among high rates of vaccination against polio, the IPV is generally considered a more effective choice.

The difference is in how they work: IPV stops a person from developing paralytic polio. OPV stops the virus from passing onto other people.

The CDC did not immediately confirm reports that the OPV, which could help stem the virus' spread in areas with low vaccination rates, could again be used in the U.S., as CNBC recently reported.

But a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health said Monday that efforts on the national, state and local level continue, including work to up vaccination rates.

"IPV, the only vaccine available in the U.S., is 99 – 100 percent effective at preventing disease among people who get all recommended doses," said Samantha Fuld of NYSDOH. "We continue to closely monitor the situation and collaborate with CDC on proactively considering potential future response options."

Nancy Cutler writes about People & Policy. Follow her on Twitter at @nancyrockland. 

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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Polio focus around world as New York fights virus circulation