Fears about polio are rising in New York after a case of the virus was found in an unvaccinated adult in Rockland County, the first person known to be infected with the virus in the United States in nearly a decade.
Polio, once one of the nation's most feared diseases, was declared eliminated in the United States in 1979, more than two decades after vaccines became available.Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by an enterovirus called the poliovirus. There are three strains, two of which have been eliminated in the world, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a WHO program.
Polio was one of the world's most feared diseases until Dr. Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine and tested its safety in 1954.Most people who get infected with poliovirus will not have any visible symptoms,They say about one out of four people with poliovirus infection will have flu-like symptoms that may include a sore throat, fever, tiredness, nausea, headache and stomach pain. These symptoms usually last two to five days, then go away on their own.
Even children who seem to fully recover can develop new muscle pain, weakness, or paralysis as adults, 15 to 40 years later. This is called post-polio syndrome.The polio virus lives in an infected person's throat and intestines. People carrying the poliovirus, including those without symptoms, can spread the highly contagious virus for weeks in their feces. In rare cases, viral transmission can occur via droplets from a sneeze or cough, the CDC said.
- Oral poliovirus vaccine is still used throughout much of the world, but it no longer licensed or available in the United States. Children receive doses of the vaccine by drops in the mouth.
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