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News Articles: polio

A nurse administers polio vaccine drops to a young Palestinian patient at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group.

As polio vaccinations begin in Gaza, U.N. says success hinges on a pause in fighting

Health care workers plan to reach more than 640,000 Palestinian children in a matter of days while Israel has agreed to staggered pauses in fighting.

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By:
  • Juliana Kim and
  • Aya Batrawy
Paul Alexander, who held a Guinness World Record for living the longest with the help of an iron lung, has died. Here, medical staff stand among iron lung machines in an emergency polio ward at Haynes Memorial Hospital in Boston, Mass., on Aug. 16, 1955, when the city's polio epidemic hit a high of 480 cases.

Paul Alexander, forced into an iron lung by polio in 1952, dies at 78

"More than anything, I believe he would want others to know they are capable of great things," Alexander's friend Christopher Ulmer told NPR.

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By:
  • Bill Chappell
A health worker administers a measles vaccine during a vaccination drive, prompted by a measles outbreak, in Navi Mumbai, India, in December 2022. A new UNICEF report finds that India has the world's largest number of children with zero doses of childhood vaccines: 2.7 million

Why millions of kids aren't getting their routine vaccinations

COVID-19 disrupted health care across the globe. causing the biggest drop in childhood vaccination rates in decades. UNICEF's latest estimates find that nearly 50 million children entirely missed out.

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By:
  • Rhitu Chatterjee

The dream of wiping out polio might need a rethink

When public health specialists look at the annual case counts, some see a trend that raises questions about how realistic the goal of a polio-free world might be.

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By:
  • Jason Beaubien
Do some people have built-in protection against a COVID infection?

From COVID to mpox to polio: Our 9 most-read 'viral' stories in 2022

It was a big year for viruses, which simply refused to be ignored. And unlike the previous two years, COVID had to share the spotlight.

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By:
  • Laurel Dalrymple
FILE - This 2014 illustration made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts a polio virus particle. The polio virus has been found in New York City's wastewater in another sign that the disease, which hadn't been seen in the U.S. in a decade, is quietly spreading among unvaccinated people, health officials said Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.

Poliovirus detected in more wastewater near New York City

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state is stepping up polio-fighting efforts as the virus was detected in the wastewater of another county in the New York City area.

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By:
  • The Associated Press
Minda Dentler handcycling at mile 32 of The Kona Ironman in Hawaii, 2013. She's the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the Ironman World Championship. When she was an infant, her legs were paralyzed by polio. "I wish all people who may be on the fence about vaccination could really meet me," she says. "I'm a reminder to families that they should vaccinate their children."

Striving to outrace polio: What's it like living with the disease

As polio makes a comeback, Minda Dentler reflects on her life with the disease. Paralyzed as an infant in India, she's gone on to become a champion wheelchair triathlete and an immunization advocate.

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By:
  • Ari Daniel
This carefully-worded and designed infographic from Rockland County, NY describes — in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Yiddish — what polio is and that immunization is the best way to protect yourself and others.

New York counties gear up to fight a polio outbreak among the unvaccinated

Polio is spreading in a few New York counties with low vaccination rates. Experts warn that other places in the U.S. could face the same challenge.

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By:
  • Ari Daniel
This 2014 illustration made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts a polio virus particle.

Q&A: The polio virus was detected in New York City wastewater. Do you need to worry?

The highly infectious viral disease can lead to permanent paralysis of the arms and legs and even death in some cases. Health officials are urging people to get vaccinated if they haven't been.

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By:
  • Jaclyn Diaz
A health worker gives a polio vaccine to a child in Karachi, Pakistan, on May 23. British health authorities on Wednesday said they will offer a polio booster dose to children aged 1 to 9 in London, after finding evidence the virus has been spreading in multiple regions of the capital.

Polio vaccine boosters are offered to London children as the virus spreads

Children were made eligible for booster doses after health authorities reported finding evidence the virus has spread in multiple areas of London but found no cases of the paralytic disease in people.

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By:
  • The Associated Press
New York health officials detected Polio in a patient Thursday, the first case in the United States since 2013. The signature symptom of the Polio virus is paralysis, which can return later in life, years after a survivor has recovered from their initial infection.

The first U.S. polio case was discovered in nearly a decade. Should you worry?

The CDC confirmed that a patient in New York has contracted polio, the first U.S. case since 2013. But most people shouldn't be concerned about contracting the virus because of high vaccination rates.

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By:
  • Dustin Jones
This 2014 illustration made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts a polio virus particle. On Thursday, July 21, 2022, New York health officials reported a polio case, the first in the U.S. in nearly a decade. (Sarah Poser, Meredith Boyter Newlove/CDC via AP)

The first U.S. case of polio since 2013 has been detected in New York

The patient, who has developed paralysis but is no longer contagious according to the AP, may have contracted the virus overseas. The CDC says no cases of polio have originated in the U.S. since 1979.

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By:
  • Ayana Archie
View of the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works. Between February and May, U.K. scientists found several samples containing closely related versions of the polio virus in wastewater at the plant.

Polio found in U.K. for the first time in nearly 40 years. Here's what it means

Scientists in Britain have detected multiple versions of the virus in wastewater. Officials say the risk to the public is extremely low and urge people to ensure their polio vaccines are up to date.

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By:
  • Michaeleen Doucleff
View of the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works. Between February and May, U.K. scientists found several samples containing closely related versions of the polio virus in wastewater at the plant.

Polio found in U.K. for the first time in nearly 40 years. Here's what it means

Scientists in Britain have detected multiple versions of the virus in wastewater. Officials say the risk to the public is extremely low and urge people to ensure their polio vaccines are up to date.

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By:
  • Michaeleen Doucleff
A child receives a polio vaccine in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 14, 2022.

Vaccine-derived polio is on the rise. A new vaccine aims to stop the spread

Countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia are counting more cases of vaccine-derived polio. One reason for this, say experts, is that vaccination efforts have lapsed during the pandemic.

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By:
  • Ari Daniel