Polio is becoming more common in the United States and England

ZAt first it seemed like an unfortunate coincidence: In July, a 20-year-old man was admitted to New York State with a stroke, and doctors diagnosed polio. A disease considered eradicated in the United States and most countries around the world; In the US, the last case happened in 2013. But now the polio crisis has worsened. Polioviruses were also detected in London and Israel this summer. In late September, officials in New York declared a disaster after polioviruses were found in wastewater samples from five counties in the state.

Has the virus returned that should have been eradicated by global vaccination campaigns because it can lead to more severe, life-long paralysis? Jürgen May, a senior infectious epidemiologist at the Bernhard Nocht Institute in Hamburg, cautions: The viruses discovered are not “normal” polioviruses, so they are not wild type, but rather strains created from vaccine viruses called vaccine-derived polioviruses. or VTPV But these vaccine viruses can cause the same disease as the wild type. “We don’t need to worry about private sources, but they are a warning signal,” says May. If we neglect to vaccinate, the risk of infection and spread increases – here and in Europe.”