Polio could be making a comeback. Here’s what you need to know
Key Takeaways
The New York State Department of Health identified the first confirmed case of polio in the US in nearly a decade in July 2022. The patient was unvaccinated.
Patients most at risk of contracting poliovirus include those who live or travel in places where polio has yet to be eradicated (or places with poor sanitation), as well as children under 5 and pregnant women, according to research.
Although a cure for paralytic polio does not yet exist, physicians can encourage patients to protect themselves against the virus by receiving an inactivated poliovirus vaccine.
Once a disease that struck fear among American masses in the late 1940s, polio was nearly eradicated by 1979. According to a CDC report, the polio vaccine enabled Americans to avoid up to 35,000+ annual cases—a statistic that used to keep parents from allowing their kids to go outside.[]
Despite decades of successful prevention efforts, the nation’s first case of polio in over 9 years was confirmed in Rockland County, NY, in July 2022. In the aftermath of this occurrence, physicians can share risk factors with patients and advise them to get vaccinated against poliovirus.
Polio’s unexpected return to the US
The previous instance of polio in the US occurred in 2013, according to a report published by the NY State Department of Health.[] It was not from a wild strain of poliovirus.
“Wild poliovirus (WPV) is the most commonly known form of the poliovirus,” wrote the authors of research published by Polio Global Eradication Initiative, who cited another form that can spread quickly in communities: circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus, or cVDPV.[]
"While cVDPVs are rare, they have been increasing in recent years due to low immunization rates within communities."
— Polio Global Eradication Initiative
According to an article published by the CDC, no wild poliovirus case has originated in the US since 1979, although wild poliovirus was last brought into the US by travelers in 1993.[] However, wild poliovirus was detected in two African countries in 2022 outside endemic areas of wild poliovirus 1.[]
The Rockland County resident who was diagnosed in 2022 was unvaccinated against the virus.
Poliovirus is highly contagious. It enters the body orally, usually because the individual’s hand has made contact with the feces of another infected person and then touches their mouth, as noted in the CDC article.
Patients can also contract the disease if their hands contain droplets of an infected person’s cough or sneeze, which then reach the mouth. This mode of transmission is less common.
The type of poliovirus that infected the patient from Rockland County, however, was identified by NYSDOH's public health laboratory as revertant polio Sabin type 2 virus, which may suggest a different mode of transmission altogether, according to the NY State Department of Health.
New York health officials said that the revertant polio Sabin type 2 virus found in the infected individual “is indicative of a transmission chain from an individual who received the oral polio vaccine (OPV), which is no longer authorized or administered in the US, where only the inactivated polio vaccines (IPV) has been given since 2000.”
Since revertant strains aren’t capable of sprouting from inactivated vaccines, this iteration of the virus likely originated in another country where OPVs are still used, according to the NYSDOH.
Symptoms, risk factors
As health officials address the return of polio in the US, physicians can remind patients about who is most at risk of contracting the virus, what its symptoms are, and how to prevent transmission.
According to an article published by Cleveland Clinic, those who are unvaccinated against poliovirus are at a higher risk of contracting it.[] This is especially true for individuals who live in or travel to places where polio has an active presence.
Additionally, spending time in poorly sanitized areas can heighten the risk of infection. Children aged 5 and younger and pregnant people are also at higher risk.
Although infected patients may not experience symptoms, they may have headaches, fatigue, fever, vomiting, and muscle pain, among other ailments. Polio is also known to attack the brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis and in some cases, death.
Related: Has the pandemic displaced America’s biggest health concerns?Get vaccinated
There is no cure for polio. Instead, patients can protect themselves by getting an inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV).
According to the CDC article, IPVs are administered through injections in the arm or leg, depending on the patient’s age.
New York State Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett, MD, recommended getting vaccinated or boosted with IPV as soon as possible.
"The polio vaccine is safe and effective, protecting against this potentially debilitating disease, and it has been part of the backbone of required, routine childhood immunizations recommended by health officials and public health agencies nationwide."
— Mary T. Bassett, MD, New York State Health Commissioner
What this means for you
The nation’s first case of polio in almost a decade was confirmed in July 2022. The patient who contracted it was not vaccinated against the virus. Advise patients to get an IPV to protect themselves from the virus as it potentially makes a comeback in the US. Warn them that traveling or living in spaces where polio has an active presence may increase their risk of coming into contact with the virus. Patients who live in poorly sanitized areas, are under age 5, or are pregnant, are also at higher risk.