After 1st U.S. polio case in a decade, doctors in Canada stress vaccination
Global News
One expert said some parents are opting not to vaccinate their kids and the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed vaccination such as polio vaccine for some children.
Canadian infection experts are taking note after U.S. officials reported last week that an unvaccinated American was diagnosed with the country’s first case of polio in nearly a decade.
Health Canada has not recorded a case of the virus in more than 25 years, but infectious disease experts say they always have their “ears up and eyes open for vaccine-preventable illnesses like polio” that continue to circulate elsewhere in the world.
“Any imported infection is just a flight away,” said Dr. Vinita Dubey, associate medical officer of health for Toronto Public Health.
The polio vaccine is part of children’s standard set of shots, but Dubey said some parents are opting not to vaccinate their kids and the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed vaccination for others.
That’s creating a renewed risk of vaccine-preventable diseases as people return to international travel after a two-year break, she said. Global polio vaccination efforts were put on hold for part of that time, compounding the problem.
A single case of polio triggers a public health response and is reportable under international health regulations. By the time a case of paralysis from polio is diagnosed, many more people have likely been infected.
That’s the fear in Rockland County, N.Y., where a patient was diagnosed with polio after experiencing paralysis. Officials are holding vaccine clinics and asking health-care providers to watch for more cases.
Poliovirus is highly contagious and usually causes no symptoms or mild symptoms such as low-grade fever, malaise, nausea, diarrhea and sore throat. Illnesses are most common in infants and young children, but adults who are not fully immunized can also become sick. The virus attacks the nervous system, with one to five per cent of infections causing meningitis and less than one per cent resulting in paralysis.
