Polio Spread Reminds Us The Oral Vaccine Has Rare Risks
Media outlets report on how wild poliovirus is circulating because of a very rare circumstance where the disease can spread from oral vaccines that contain live versions of the disease. Reports detail the timeline of the New York case, and other polio-related news.
AP:
Polio In US, UK And Israel Reveals Rare Risk Of Oral Vaccine
In a surprising twist in the decades-long effort to eradicate the virus, authorities in Jerusalem, New York and London have discovered evidence that polio is spreading there. The original source of the virus? The oral vaccine itself. Scientists have long known about this extremely rare phenomenon. That is why some countries have switched to other polio vaccines. But these incidental infections from the oral formula are becoming more glaring as the world inches closer to eradication of the disease and the number of polio cases caused by the wild, or naturally circulating, virus plummets. (Cheng, 8/21)
Nature:
Spate Of Polio Outbreaks Worldwide Puts Scientists On Alert
Wild poliovirus circulates in only two countries — Afghanistan and Pakistan — where this year nine cases had been reported by June.But vaccine-derived poliovirus appears periodically elsewhere, particularly in Africa and Asia. These cases come from a widely used oral vaccine that contains live, weakened virus that sometimes mutates to a dangerous form capable of infecting the nervous system. (Ledford, 8/22)
More on the spread of polio —
Becker's Hospital Review:
A Timeline Of New York's Polio Case
New York state confirmed the first U.S. polio case in nearly a decade on July 21 in an unvaccinated man in Rockland County. Health experts have been urging immunizations among the unvaccinated, as some states have rates below 90 percent. Below is a timeline of the initial wastewater sample collections to its present ongoing investigation of the case. (Gleeson, 8/22)
The Wall Street Journal:
Polio Vaccines Are Urged In New York As Once-Defeated Virus Lurks
Officials in New York are urging pediatricians and parents to bring patients up to date on polio shots, as evidence suggests the infectious and potentially debilitating poliovirus was present in the state as early as April. (Abbott, 8/22)
MSN:
Melrose Polio Survivor Urges Everyone To Get Vaccinated After Potential Spread In New York
A local polio survivor is urging everyone to get vaccinated after the nation detected its first case of the virus in nearly a decade last month. "It was painful and I couldn't do a lot of things," said Patricia Hughes. The Melrose resident was just five years old when she was diagnosed with polio in 1955. The virus, which can cause paralysis, weakened her muscles – making it difficult to walk. (Chan, 8/22)
Axios:
Polio And Monkeypox Left Out Of Philadelphia Wastewater Surveillance
Since polio was found in wastewater samples in New York last month, health officials have tracked the virus from sewage systems in two southeastern counties, Rockland and Orange, to New York City. But detecting viruses like polio won't be as easy in Philly. (D'Onofrio, 8/22)
Reuters:
Fact Check-Polio Is Not Renamed Guillain-Barré Syndrome, Nor Is It A Side Effect Of COVID-19 Vaccines
Poliovirus has at no point been renamed Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and it is not a side effect of COVID-19 vaccines. Poliovirus infection can cause GBS but incidents are rare, one expert told Reuters, while another two went further and said it does not cause GBS. (8/22)
