The Governor of New York has declared a disaster emergency following a troubling rise of polio in the state.
The dire situation came to light in July when the first polio case in nearly a decade turned up in Rockland, followed by Orange and Sullivan County. Last month, wastewater samples taken from Long Island’s Nassau County also indicated the presence of the disease. This led Governor Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency to secure resources to fight back against the devastating disease.
Polio was nearly eradicated with the creation of a vaccine in 1955. With no known cure, the vaccination proved to be the only form of protection against the disease that causes paralysis and even death. The life-threatening illness can also cause muscle or joint weakness and pain, fatigue, atrophy, and breathing problems, amongst other ailments. Polio is highly contagious, spreading through person-to-person contact or droplets from a sneeze or cough.
Under this new executive order, health care providers will be able to provide immunization records to the state health department. Three injections of the vaccine can offer lifetime treatment. However, the dilemma of today is that many people are untrusting of immunizations, despite the polio vaccine being around for decades.
State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett is urging everyone to get vaccinated in order to protect themselves.
“On polio, we simply cannot roll the dice,” State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett stated.
