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.
According to health authorities, polio can be detected in New York City’s water supply, which suggests the possibility that the disease that causes it is circulating.
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.”
Rockland County’s health commissioner, Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert believes that this statement 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.”
A few facts about the world are necessary before we proceed.
Polio is an extremely serious disease. It was a deadly disease that killed thousands and left many people disabled. As a youngster, one of my uncles was infected with polio and has since become immobile. Get the vaccine if you’ve never had it. Contrary to other medications, the vaccine actually works. In fact, the national vaccination program worked so well that the disease was declared “eradicated” in 1979. According to CDC data, the United States has not seen a case of naturally occurring polio paralysis for over 20 years. The cases of polio paralysis that occurred in the US since 1980 could be traced back to immigrants.
About 8 cases have been reported each year to date as a result of the vaccine. Below is a quote from Poliomyelitis. It was taken directly from the CDC website.
From 1980–1999, 162 confirmed cases of paralytic poliomyelitis were reported in the United States, an average of 8 cases per year. Sixteen cases were caused from wild poliovirus from outside the United States, and two were considered indeterminant. The patients did not have any history of vaccinations or contact with recipients. 95 percent of the remaining cases (154) were caused by vaccine-associated paralytic polio, which was caused in part by the Sabin poliovirus strains found in OPV vaccine.
Polio virus is not like COVID viruses because it does not contain animal reservoirs. Polio is only found in human beings. I’m again quoting from the CDC webpage:
Reservoir
Poliovirus is only found in humans. It’s transmitted more frequently to people with unapparent infections than human beings. Except for immunocompromised people, there is no asymptomatic carrier condition.
Within a particular context, Polio can be highly contagious. The same CDC website gives this quote.
Transmission
Poliovirus spreads from one person to another via either the oral-oral and fecal-oral routes. In settings of poor hygiene or sanitation, the fecal route is the main transmission channel.…
Communicability
Poliovirus can be highly contagious. The seroconversion rate among children’s household contacts is nearly 100 percent, while it is more than 90 percent among adults who have household contact with children. People infected by poliovirus tend to be most contagious in the first few days after symptoms begin. However, poliovirus can remain in stool for as long as 6 weeks.
The World Health Organization states that for every paralysis case, there could be up to 200 instances of mild or no symptoms.
1 in 200 cases of infection can lead to permanent paralysis, usually in the legs. Among those paralysed, 5–10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.
Polio is most common in children younger than 5 years. Polio can be contracted by anyone, regardless of age.
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’s easy to see why New York officials are so concerned about their one 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. This would indicate that the overall rate is around 90%. New York has significantly lower immunizations rates than the rest of the country.
New Yorkers, whether they’re unsure about their vaccination status, and those of loved ones, need to contact healthcare providers immediately to be vaccinated. 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. You could blame the large number of well-off liberals.
Philadelphia Inquirer
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. Their families usually earn more than $75,000 annually.
Money:
All this despite overwhelming evidence that vaccines are not just safe, but critical to a healthy, functioning society. Research shows that the majority of naysayers are not fully prepared. 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.
The low-functioning moron left naturally has a different view.
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
NEWS: New York’s first reported case of POLIO is now public. This may signal a trend towards avoiding vaccines.
How do you feel about this?
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) August 5, 2022
Lovely.
We might need to come up with another word for vaccination in order not trigger the MAGA crowd.
You and your loved one can avoid these illnesses with schmacines. Make sure you get schmaccinated. https://t.co/cg4eO7kRFs
— Will Saletan (@saletan) August 12, 2022
People who declined to receive the COVID vaccination for one instance of poliomyelitis (in New York) is totally absurd. 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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