– There has been a 99 percent reduction in polio cases since 1988
New York, dt. 22 July 2022, Friday
The first case of polio virus was reported in America after almost 10 years on Thursday. A man living in Rockland County, 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Manhattan, tested positive for polio, the New York State Department of Health said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the last case of polio in the United States was in 2013.
Officials said the new case is likely to be transmitted from another person, who may have received the oral polio vaccine. OPV was discontinued in the United States in 2000.
According to New York State Health Department officials, this type of transmission indicates that the virus originated outside the United States where the oral polio vaccine is being administered. Notably, new strains of the virus cannot be controlled with OPV. In such a situation, officials have warned health workers to work to identify other cases. Also, people in those areas who have not yet received the polio vaccine are requested to take polio.
Let us tell you that in recent decades, extensive efforts have been made at the global level to get rid of the polio virus. Polio is a disabling and potentially fatal viral disease. It mainly affects children under 5 years of age. Polio cases have declined by about 99 percent since 1988.
Notably, polio was endemic in 25 countries and 350,000 cases were reported worldwide. Cases declined sharply in the United States after vaccines were developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s.