Category: Polio
Can the world really stop wild polio by the end of 2023?
Nature Given global efforts to eradicate the poliovirus were recently described as unsuccessful, how are Afghanistan and Pakistan now on the verge of eliminating it? Afghanistan and Pakistan — the two countries in which polio is still endemic — are closer than they have ever been to eradicating wild poliovirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) […]
Aug 15, 2023
Which Adults Need Polio Boosters
Precision Vaccinations The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory committee is discussing how to make the current polio vaccination recommendations easier to understand. On February 23, 2023, Sarah Kidd, M.D., MPH, presented to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) proposed language for adult polio vaccinations in the U.S. The CDC’s current recommendations for […]
Mar 7, 2023
CDC expands wastewater testing for polio to Michigan and Pennsylvania
(Washington Post) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expanding efforts to test wastewater to detect thepolio virus in Philadelphia and the Detroit area, targeting communities at highest risk for the life-threatening and potentially disabling illness, officials said Wednesday. The expansion of wastewater monitoring for polio comes amid pressure to increase efforts to fight the disease after […]
Dec 5, 2022
Polio is back in Indonesia, sparking vaccination campaign
(AP) Children in school uniforms and toddlers with their parents lined up Monday for polio vaccinations in the Sigli town square on the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, after four children were found infected with the highly contagious disease that was declared eliminated in the country less than a decade ago. The […]
Nov 29, 2022
Pfizer’s RSV vaccine, given during pregnancy, protects infants from severe illness
(Washington Post) Pfizer announced Tuesday that its maternal RSV vaccine, given during pregnancy, protected infants from developing severe symptoms during the first six months after birth — a critical window of vulnerability. The company plans to apply for approval of the vaccine before year’s end, with the hope that the shot could be the first […]
Nov 1, 2022
Poliovirus found in Brooklyn and Queens sewage, New York health officials say
CNBC – The sewage sample in Brooklyn and Queens that tested positive is genetically linked to the virus that paralyzed an unvaccinated adult in Rockland County over the summer. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has extended the state of emergency declared in response to the spread of poliovirus in an effort to boost vaccination rates. […]
Oct 11, 2022
Polio is officially circulating in the US again
Popular Science – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that polioviruses found recently in Rockland County, New York, meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) criteria for circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV), which means that the pathogen continues to be transmitted in the county and surrounding areas. Vaccine-derived refers to the strain’s relationship to the […]
Sep 22, 2022