[ad_1]
NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett
Andy Katz | Pacific Press | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Health officials announced Friday that a new case of polio has been found in New York City.
New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett called the findings alarming. Bassett said local and federal health officials are actively assessing the extent of polio spread in the city and New York state.
“For every case of paralytic polio, hundreds of others may go undiagnosed,” Bassett said. “The best way to make adults and children polio-free is through a safe and effective vaccine.
Polio can cause permanent paralysis of the arms and legs and, in some cases, death. Health officials are calling on unvaccinated people to get their vaccinations immediately.
In the year Since 2019, routine vaccinations among children have decreased, increasing the risk of outbreaks, health officials said. About 14% of New York City children ages 6 months to 5 years have not completed their polio vaccination series, meaning they are not fully protected against the virus.
Overall, 86% of children under the age of 5 in New York City are fully vaccinated against polio, according to health officials. But there are some neighborhoods in the city where less than 70% of children in this age group are up-to-date on vaccination, which puts children in these communities at risk of contracting polio.
New York state health officials confirmed last month that an adult in upstate New York’s Rockland County was paralyzed by polio. Polio was subsequently found in sewage in Rockland County and neighboring Orange County.
The strain captured by the unvaccinated adult was genetically related to sewage samples from Rockland and Orange counties. It’s not clear where the chain of transmission began, but health officials said the sewage samples indicate the spread of the virus in the New York City metropolitan area.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
[ad_2]
Source link
