City and State health officials updated New Yorkers on the detection of polio in the City’s sewage system on Friday, Aug. 12, suggesting a likely local circulation of the virus in New York City. Polio can lead to permanent paralysis of the arms and legs and even death in some cases.

 

State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said for every one case of paralytic polio identified, hundreds more may be undetected. “The detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples in New York City is alarming, but not surprising,” Bassett said.

 

“Already, the State Health Department, working with local and federal partners, is responding urgently, continuing case investigation and aggressively assessing spread. The best way to keep adults and children polio-free is through safe and effective immunization – New Yorkers’ greatest protection against the worst outcomes of polio, including permanent paralysis and even death.”

 

The message was reiterated by the City’s health commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan who said, “The risk to New Yorkers is real but the defense is so simple – get vaccinated against polio.” He added, “With polio circulating in our communities there is simply nothing more essential than vaccinating our children to protect them from this virus, and if you’re an unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated adult, please choose now to get the vaccine. Polio is entirely preventable and its reappearance should be a call to action for all of us.”

 

Health officials said a case of paralytic polio was found in a Rockland County resident on July 21, and the detection of poliovirus was also found in wastewater samples collected in May, June and July from neighboring New York City counties, Rockland and Orange Counties. They said this underscores the urgency for every adult, including pregnant New Yorkers, and for children to stay up-to-date with polio immunizations, particularly those in the greater New York metropolitan area.

 

City and State health officials said they will continue their active, ongoing wastewater surveillance efforts in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and ensure prevention measures, particularly immunization clinics, are in place. They said the best way to keep New Yorkers and children polio-free is to maintain high immunity across the population through safe and effective immunization.

 

They added that vaccine coverage for routinely recommended vaccines has fallen among children in New York City since 2019, which they said puts the city at risk for outbreaks and devastating complications of vaccine preventable diseases. “Only 86.2% of NYC children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old have received 3 doses of the polio vaccine – nearly 14% remain not fully protected,” they said. “Of particular concern are neighborhoods where coverage of children aged six-months to five-years-old with three doses of polio vaccine is less than 70%, putting these children at risk of contracting polio.”

 

They added that as of Aug. 1, Rockland County had a polio vaccination rate of 60.34 percent and Orange County had a polio vaccination rate of 58.68 percent, compared to the statewide average of 78.96 percent, among children who have received 3 polio immunizations before their second birthday.

 

According to health experts, polio can lead to permanent paralysis of the arms and legs and can be fatal due to paralysis in the muscles used to breathe or swallow. They said most people infected with the virus do not have any symptoms, though some will have flu-like symptoms, like sore throat, fever, tiredness, nausea and stomach pain. “One in 25 people with infection with get viral meningitis and about one in 200 will become paralyzed,” they said. “While there is no cure for polio, it is preventable through safe and effective immunization.”

 

A core component of the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule, and required by NYSDOH for all school-aged children, most children are already vaccinated, health officials said. According to the CDC, inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV), which is the only polio immunization that has been given in the United States since 2000, protects 99 percent of children who get all the recommended doses.

 

Health officials added that the most important way for children and adults to protect themselves from polio is to get vaccinated right away if they have not received all recommended polio vaccine doses. Health officials have increased communication to healthcare providers, stressing the importance of the on-time administration of the polio vaccine among their patients.

 

In accordance with CDC:

• All children should get four doses of the polio vaccine, with the first dose given at 6 weeks through 2 months of age, followed by one dose given at 4 months of age, 6 through 18 months old, and 4 through 6 years old.
• People who are unvaccinated or are unsure if they have been immunized should receive a total of 3 doses if starting the vaccine series after age 4.
• Adults who have only had 1 or 2 doses of the polio vaccine in the past should get the remaining 1 or 2 doses – it does not matter how long it has been since the earlier doses.

 

Health officials said most adults do not need a polio vaccine because they were already vaccinated as children. New Yorkers who are not up-to-date with vaccination should speak to their health care provider or their child’s provider to schedule an appointment for vaccination against polio and other dangerous diseases, such as measles, mumps, whooping cough, chickenpox and COVID-19.

 

They added that polio outbreaks are happening globally, and children and adults should be up-to-date with polio and other routine immunizations before travelling. They said adults who received polio vaccines as children should receive a one-time lifetime booster if traveling to an area where there is a poliovirus transmission.

 

State health department officials said they have engaged community-based organizations in the affected areas to partner on outreach, disseminating education about the virus, the safe, protective nature of the well-established immunization, and the gravity of the current situation. They said officials have been working with local providers and community leaders to promote vaccination and are developing materials for popular local communications channels.

 

On July 22, Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY-15) called on the CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  (FDA) commissioner, Dr. Robert M. Califf, to formally brief Congress on the federal government’s stockpile of polio vaccines, to ensure that there is sufficient federal stockpile of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, ready to rapidly deploy should an outbreak occur.

 

The move came after the State Health department confirmed on July 21, that one individual, residing in Rockland County, New York had been diagnosed with polio, which was the first reported case of polio in the United States in nearly a decade.

 

“For the first half of the 20th century, polio was a deeply disabling disease that struck terror in the hearts of Americans, especially parents who feared for the health and safety of their children. The return of polio can never be an option,” said Torres. “Given the public health failures surrounding both COVID and Monkeypox, we must ensure that the federal government has a sufficient stockpile of medical countermeasures that can be rapidly deployed in the event of a polio outbreak.”

 

Torres added that America had a grim history with polio. Prior to vaccinations in 1955, it was a highly infectious and deadly incurable disease. Since vaccinations were made widely available, polio was declared eradicated by the CDC in 1979, and health officials and the public accepted that polio was a disease of the past. Torres said given the new reported case, the federal government must be prepared to contain a possible outbreak.

 

“The growing threat of unvaccinated individuals and our depleted public health infrastructure presents a polio outbreak as a real possibility,” he said. “We cannot afford to repeat the lessons of the past. That is why it is essential we take this first step in assessing our federal readiness to respond to a potential outbreak.”

 

People without a healthcare provider can call 311 or 844-NYC-4NYC (844-692-4692) for help finding one. Care is provided in New York City regardless of immigration status, insurance or ability to pay.

 

Also, children ages 4 years and older can get low or no-cost vaccines at the NYC Health Department’s Fort Greene Health Center at 295 Flatbush Ave. Ext., Fifth Floor, Brooklyn, NY, from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To make an appointment, visit nyc.gov and search for immunization clinic.

 

New Yorkers can learn more about polio and polio immunization here.

 

Polio vaccination rates by county are available here and more information about wastewater surveillance is available here