A case of poliomyelitis was recorded in the USA, for the first time in almost a decade. A young man in New York fell ill.
The BBC writes about it.
It is noted that the patient is no longer contagious, but the disease resulted in paralysis. According to doctors, the unvaccinated man was in contact with a person who was vaccinated against poliomyelitis with a weakened virus.
The last time this disease was recorded in the USA was in 2013. In the 20th century, the country had an epidemic of polio, but thanks to a vaccination campaign from 1955 to 1979, the incidence dropped to almost zero. After that, all cases of infection were isolated and brought from abroad.
Polio is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. It is spread from person to person most often through feces and saliva that contaminates hands, food, and water. Every unvaccinated person — both an adult and a child — can get polio. But children under the age of five are most susceptible to the poliomyelitis virus. The course of the disease is characterized by damage to the central nervous system, the occurrence of paralysis. The disease can lead to death.