A vaccinated-caused case of polio has been confirmed in the United States for the first time in almost a decade. The local health authority in Rockaway County, New York state said on Thursday that an unvaccinated resident of the state had contracted the disease.
An initial sequencing indicates that the transmission came from a person who had been vaccinated with an oral polio vaccine containing live, weakened viruses.
Since oral vaccinations have not been available in the United States since 2000, the virus appears to have originated abroad, according to the health authority. She called on Rockland County doctors to keep an eye out for possible additional cases. In addition, all previously unvaccinated residents in the district should be vaccinated urgently.
Poliomyelitis – also known as polio – was common around the world until a vaccine was found in the 1950’s.
According to various media reports, polio has been eradicated in the USA since 1979. The last known case of vaccine polio was in 2013 in a baby with a very weak immune system.
Polio is a contagious, infectious disease that can cause paralysis and death. Polio can cause permanent paralysis, especially in children under the age of five.
The highly contagious virus is often spread through contaminated water. So far there is no cure for polio, the virus has been defeated with nationwide vaccinations.
Polio is divided into wild-type and vaccine-derived viruses. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, so far this year wild polioviruses have only occurred in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Mozambique.
However, polio cases in several countries can be caused by viruses from live vaccines. In the USA and also in Germany only inactive polio vaccine is used.
In February, a polio case in Malawi aroused public interest: the first infection with a wild polio virus in Africa in more than five years had been detected there.
