Post : When Was the Last Case of Polio in the United States?
URL : [link removed]
Posted : August 10, 2022 at 9:45 am
Author : Vincent Iannelli, MD
Tags : cVDPV, last case of polio, OPV, polio, Rockland county, shedding, unvaccinated, VAPP, wastewater
Categories : Immunization News

While we rarely hear about polio anymore, like most other vaccine-preventable diseases, the last case of polio in the United States was a lot more recent than you probably imagine.

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In fact, an unvaccinated adult was just recently diagnosed with polio in Rockland County, New York caused by a revertant poliovirus Sabin type 2.

When Was the Last Case of Polio in the United States?

This latest case caused by a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV ( [link removed] ) ) in New York follows identification of polio in wastewater samples in June and July in Orange County (June and July) and Rockland County (July), which means someone was shedding the virus at that time in those communities. A virus that is genetically linked to two Sabin-like type 2 (SL2) isolates collected from environmental samples in New York and greater Jerusalem, Israel (in early June), and more recently in London, UK.

> cVDPVs can emerge if the weakened live virus contained in oral polio vaccine, shed by vaccinated children, is allowed to circulate in under-immunized populations for long enough to genetically revert to aversion that causes paralysis.
>
> Recommendations for Reporting on Poliovirus Outbreaks

Although this wasn't a case of wild polio, since it is contagious and can cause paralysis (if you are not vaccinated and protected), it is still considered a case of polio.

Before the case in Rockland County, the previous "last cases" of polio in the United States:

last endemic case of polio in the United States (1979)
* last imported case of polio in the United States (1993)
* “last” case of VAPP ( [link removed] ) that was acquired in the United States (1999)
* "last" case of cVDPV occurred in an outbreak of polio among a group of unvaccinated Amish in Minnesota (2005)
* "last" case of VAPP that was acquired outside the United States, an unvaccinated 22-year-old U.S. college student who became infected with polio vaccine virus while traveling in Costa Rica in a university-sponsored study-abroad program (2005)
* last case of VAPP in the United States, a patient with a long-standing combined immunodeficiency who was probably infected in the late 1990s (2009)
* last case of VAPP that was acquired outside the United States (2013), an infant who received the OPV vaccine in India and then immigrated to the US was diagnosed with polio was found to be immunocompromised (he had SCIDS)

But with polio in wastewater samples in New York, these unfortunately might not really be the last cases unless more folks get vaccinated and protected!

More on the Polio Cases

* Milestones Towards the Eradication of Polio ( [link removed] )
* Why Do We Still Vaccinate If Polio Has Been Eliminated? ( [link removed] )
* What Happens if We Stop Using Oral Polio Vaccines? ( [link removed] )
* What Is the Morbidity/Mortality Rate of the Polio Vaccine vs the Wild Virus? ( [link removed] )
* Are Mutant Strains of Polio Vaccine Now Causing More Paralysis Than Wild Polio? ( [link removed] )
* Is the Polio Vaccine Causing Polio Outbreaks in Africa? ( [link removed] )
* Are More Polio Cases Now Being Caused by the Vaccine Than by Wild Polio Viruses? ( [link removed] )
* Why Do Anti-Vax Folks Get Excited About Polio Outbreaks? ( [link removed] )
* Polio Information from Rockland County ( [link removed] )
* Polio in New York State – July 2022 ( [link removed] )
* HEALTH ADVISORY: Update Regarding Poliomyelitis in Rockland County, New York State ( [link removed] )
* Following the Identification of a Paralytic Polio Case in Rockland County, More Virus Found in Environmental Samples in Rockland and Orange Counties - Evidence of Local Transmission ( [link removed] )
* Updated statement on report of polio detection in United States ( [link removed] )
* Recommendations for Reporting on Poliovirus Outbreaks ( [link removed] )

MMWR - Vaccine-Associated Paralytic Poliomyelitis and BCG-osis in an Immigrant Child with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Syndrome — Texas, 2013 ( [link removed] )

* First US polio case in a decade — what are the vaccine facts? ( [link removed] )
* Polio’s Resurgence ( [link removed] )
* The Return of Polio ( [link removed] )
* Eight polio cases in Israel, seven did not receive the vaccine ( [link removed] )

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