Return of the Dread Poliomyelitis

"Based on earlier polio outbreaks, New Yorkers should know that for every one case of paralytic polio observed, there may be hundreds of other people infected."

"Coupled with the latest waste water findings, the department is treating the single case of polio as just the tip of the iceberg of much greater potential spread."

New York State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett

 

"Many of you may be too young to remember polio, but when I was growing up, this disease struck fear in families, including my own."

The fact that it is still around decades after the vaccine was created shows you just how relentless it is."

"Do the right thing for your child and the greater good of your community and have your child vaccinated now."

New York County Executive Ed Day

Children in iron lungs receive treatment for polio at the King George Hospital in Winnipeg in 1953. The Beaver

 

There was an old saying "When it rains it pours" and that seems appropriate at a time when a zoonotic virus that originated in China two-and-a-half years ago speedily swept virulently across the globe, infecting hundreds of millions of people, hospitalizing tens of millions, killing millions. Viruses have always been with us; science is aware of viruses having swept through human communities in the ancient past. And at this critical time when the international community of medical science still doesn't know how the SARS-CoV-2 virus will ultimately play out along comes an old viral enemy, one thought to have been vanquished decades ago.

 

An old commercial for a brand of salt used to turn that old adage around with "When it rains it pours" and that too applies in that we're beginning to come around to the idea that there is an endless supply in nature, of viruses and they will continue to surface, no matter how industriously medical science seeks to find cures beyond preventive vaccines. Now, just as the COVID pandemic has become in our minds, endemic, a virus we will have to live with in its many recurring forms, New York and London have discovered a polio resurgence.

 

Many people infected with polio don’t show any symptoms. Some become temporarily paralyzed; for others, it’s permanent. In 1952, the polio epidemic reached a peak in U.S.: almost 58,000 reported cases and more than 3,000 deaths.

Back in the 1940s and '50s, poliomyelitis surged through global communities, killing children and leaving many others in a condition of permanent paralysis, while countless others suffered no lasting ill effects. Now, suddenly, on July 21 the first polio case in 40 years surfaced with a resident of Rockland County became paralyzed and diagnosed a month later. He was a young, unvaccinated adult. According to the New York State Department of Health the case might have originated outside the United States.

The NYSDOH two weeks on. announced the discovery of the polio virus in waste water samples from Orange and Rockland Counties. In the United Kingdom in June, a rare "national incident" was declared after traces of the contagious virus were discovered in London sewage. 115 polio viruses from 19 sewage samples had been identified by the U.K Health Security Agency in London.

Polio is spread mostly through contamination by fecal matter. No cure exists for it, but vaccination brought the pathogen that killed and paralyzed thousands of children worldwide annually, close to eliminating the disease. Largely eradicated in most countries of the world, polio is still endemic to two countries; Pakistan and Afghanistan. Both countries are affected by a type which has the potential risk of international spread.

This undated photo shows an iron lung. Used to help weakened polio patients breathe, the machine was displayed as part of a Mayo Clinic exhibit. Courtesy Mayo Clinic Health System