Polio, a disease that had basically been eradicated in the United States for decades, is poised for a comeback in New York City, or so we’re told by “public health” experts.
Polio has been detected in New York City wastewater, suggesting that the virus that causes the disease is probably circulating in the city, the health authorities said on Friday.
The announcement came three weeks after a man in Rockland County, N.Y., north of the city, was diagnosed with polio that left him with paralysis. Health officials fear that the detection of polio in New York City’s wastewater could precede other cases of paralytic polio.
New York state Health Commissioner Mary Bassett claims that this means that hundreds of cases haven’t been discovered.
“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,” Bassett said. “Coupled with the latest wastewater findings, the department is treating the single case of polio as just the tip of the iceberg of much greater potential spread.”
Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, health commissioner for Rockland County, thinks that is an understatement.
“There isn’t just one case of polio if you see a paralytic case. The incidence of paralytic polio is less than 1%,” she said.
“Most cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and those symptoms are often missed.
“So there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands of cases that have occurred in order for us to see a paralytic case.”
Before we go further, some basic facts are in order.
Polio is a serious disease. In its heyday, it killed and crippled tens of thousands. One of my uncles contracted polio as a young child and is now basically immobile. If you have never been vaccinated, get the vaccine. Unlike some concoctions foisted upon us, it actually works. In fact, the national vaccination program worked so well that the disease was declared “eradicated” in 1979. Based on CDC data, there has been a single case of naturally occurring polio paralysis in the US in about 20 years. Until this week, the cases that have occurred since 1980 can be traced to an immigration vector.
Since then, there have been about 8 cases per year that are associated with the vaccine. The below quote is from the CDC webpage titled Poliomyelitis.
From 1980–1999, 162 confirmed cases of paralytic poliomyelitis were reported in the United States, an average of 8 cases per year. Six cases were caused by wild poliovirus acquired outside the United States and two cases were classified as indeterminant (no poliovirus isolated from samples obtained from the patients, and patients had no history of recent vaccination or direct contact with a vaccine recipient). The remaining 154 (95%) cases were vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP) caused by the Sabin poliovirus strains contained in OPV vaccine.
Polio is different from viruses like COVID because polio does not have animal reservoirs. It only exists in humans. I’m again quoting from the CDC webpage:
Reservoir
Humans are the only known reservoir of poliovirus, which is transmitted most frequently by persons with inapparent infections. There is no asymptomatic carrier state except in immunocompromised persons.
Polio is highly contagious within a specific context. This quote comes from the same CDC webpage.
Transmission
Person-to-person spread of poliovirus occurs via the fecal-oral or oral-oral routes. The fecal-oral route is the most important transmission pathway in settings with suboptimal hygiene and sanitation.…
Communicability
Poliovirus is highly infectious, with seroconversion rates among susceptible household contacts of children nearly 100%, and greater than 90% among susceptible household contacts of adults. Persons infected with poliovirus are most infectious in the days immediately before and after the onset of symptoms, but poliovirus may remain present in the stool for up to 6 weeks.
According to the World Health Organization, for every case of paralysis, there are up to 200 cases that produce no or very minor symptoms.
One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralysed, 5–10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.
Polio mainly affects children under 5 years of age. However, anyone of any age who is unvaccinated can contract the disease.
This is why the New York “public health” authorities are saying that the first case of paralytic polio to appear in a decade is the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
It is easy to understand why New York authorities are exercised over their single case of polio. The national rate of childhood immunization for polio is 93% and has been above 90% for all but six of the last 40 years. Logically this would imply something around a rate of 90% for the entire population. Unexpectedly, the immunization rates in New York are significantly lower.
New Yorkers who are unsure of their vaccination status, or that of a loved one, should reach out to a healthcare provider right away to get vaccinated or receive a booster. As of August 1, 2022, Rockland County has a polio vaccination rate of 60.34 percent and Orange County has a polio vaccination rate of 58.68 percent, compared to the statewide average of 78.96 percent, among children who have received 3 polio immunizations before their second birthday.
We aren’t told why areas of New York are so low…I would suggest illegal immigration, but that would be impolitic. I could also blame the critical mass of wealthy liberals.
If you’re against vaccinating your child, there’s a good chance you’re a college-educated white woman making decent money.
The rebel forces in America’s latest culture war — the so-called anti-vaxxers — are often described as middle- and upper-class women who breast-feed their children, shop at Whole Foods, endlessly scour the web for vaccine-related conversation, and believe that their thinking supersedes that of doctors. Typically their families earn more than $75,000 a year.
All this despite overwhelming evidence that vaccines are not just safe, but critical to a healthy, functioning society. And the bulk of the naysayers, research shows, is a group of people fully equipped to know better.
Disease experts say the parents least likely to vaccinate their kids live in some of the most affluent neighborhoods in the country. They’re well-educated, and have exceptional access to healthcare. And while some pockets of low-income communities of color are “under vaccinated” for religious or financial reasons, studies published in places like the American Journal of Public Health show that the parents opting out for “philosophical reasons” are mostly white and mostly wealthy.
Sure, the New York “public health” gurus should monitor the situation, but a single case and some poo samples do not, or at least should not give a reason for COVID-like hysteria. One case today is no more a sign that “polio is back” than any of the other singleton cases that have popped up since the official eradication.
Naturally, the low-functioning moron left has a different take.
It took a lot of stupid to get us here but we did it https://t.co/Bn2gSupr8V
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) August 12, 2022
BREAKING: The first case of POLIO has hit New York and may be the "tip of the iceberg" as a new trend of avoiding the vaccine gains popularity.
What do you think about that?
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) August 5, 2022
Lovely.
Maybe we should come up with a word other than vaccination, to avoid triggering the MAGA crowd?
Schmaccines can prevent these diseases in you and your loved ones. Please get schmaccinated. https://t.co/cg4eO7kRFs
— Will Saletan (@saletan) August 12, 2022
The attempt to blame people who refused to take the COVID vaccine for a single case of polio in New York, of all places, is just stupid and bizarre. It is also stupid to call people who refused the COVID vaccine “anti-vaxxers.” Having been a member of a Rapid Deployment Force unit, I’d be willing to match my vaccination history with anyone. But accepting some vaccines based on a personal risk assessment isn’t the same as getting all vaccines because you’re told to take them.
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