Polio is back, yes polio

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

I was reading a "quick facts" page about polio here:

https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/infections/viral-infections/polio

They have a paragraph that needs updating, sadly.

Quote

The last case of wild poliovirus infection in the United States occurred in 1979. The Western Hemisphere was certified polio-free in 1994. 

(my bold)

With international travel being more common than in the past, and "wild" polio still being around, and anti-vaccine parents not getting their kids vaccinated, we have a dangerous mix. Places in a state of breakdown, like Venezuela, may be at the highest risk, but no place is completely safe. I wish the whole anti-vax idea had never started. 

We eradicated naturally occuring smallpox within my lifetime. I wish we could add to the list of extinct diseases in my kids' lifetimes.

[PumaLover]

My daughter had her last day of school today and spent the afternoon and evening with her friend and their family at the lake. She came home and was telling us all about it and said that the reason her friend is home schooled is that their family is afraid to give her shots… I literally facepalmed. Then I proceeded to talk about this thread, the Millers and their pertussis mobile, and others. I didn't realize just how many anti-vaxxers I know in real life.

[unsafetydancer]

16 hours ago, PumaLover said:

the Millers and their pertussis mobile,

Dare I ask what that is?

[Briefly]

59 minutes ago, unsafetydancer said:

Dare I ask what that is?

They had pertussis and apparently it did not stop them from travelling around to various churches.  There is no telling how many people they exposed to it.

17 hours ago, PumaLover said:

My daughter had her last day of school today and spent the afternoon and evening with her friend and their family at the lake. She came home and was telling us all about it and said that the reason her friend is home schooled is that their family is afraid to give her shots… I literally facepalmed. Then I proceeded to talk about this thread, the Millers and their pertussis mobile, and others. I didn't realize just how many anti-vaxxers I know in real life.

That is one of the scary parts about people not vaccinating their children.  Children who maybe have a weakened immune system, such as those of us with asthma and a lot of other medical issues, being potentially exposed to something by someone who has not been vaccinated.  Sometimes vaccinations don't last as long as they are supposed to, and that makes the person more likely to contract something if they are exposed to it. I'm glad you know now.

[Demonfan]

Polio was only eradicated in India about 8 years ago.

[Bethella]

2 hours ago, unsafetydancer said:

Dare I ask what that is?

The Millers were a travelling missionary family (similar to and friends of the Rodrigueses). They didn't vaccinate their kids and 10 members of the family came down with pertussis. They continued traveling and performing, spreading pertussis to their unsuspecting audiences/congregations. When the baby came down with it, they tried treating him with essential oils, herbal remedies and prayer. He ended up in the local ER who then flew him to a major hospital. The baby survived but unfortunately the experience did not make the family reconsider their position on vaccinations.

 

[samira_catlover]

May ALL the beloved kindly Gods protect children (and heck, anyone else!) against preventable evil and sickness!

Had a classmate in nursing school with a limp.  The polio vaccine wasn't available till about 6 months after he got sick.  Probably preaching to the choir here, but if you get badly sick with polio--here's what an iron lung looks like (see link).

Imagine spending months or years in one of these. (I see you shudder--and I'll raise you: if you live in a developing nation that does *not* aggressively vaccinate---THIS---or its next-generation cousin---might be what keeps you from suffocating.) 

http://buzz.auntyacid.com/meet-man-iron-lung-65-years/

P.S.  Have I mentioned recently how much I loathe and despise anti-vaxxers?  Wouldn't mind it so much if they were quarantined off on some remote island, but damn it, they're in our midst and WON'T isolate, and this puts lots of us in danger. *fumes*

[squiddysquid]

CNN:

Polio has not returned to Venezuela, WHO says

Guardian:

After tests, WHO rules out return of polio to Venezuela

 

[Howl]

My local paper had an article a few days ago noting that my city is one of the top 15 anti vax hot spots nationally, based on rates of non-vaccinated children in public and private schools.  The schools with stratospheric rates of non vaccinated students (as high as 70% in some cases) were obviously small private schools.  I'm glad to see that this data is gathered, but this only accounts for children in some type of school;  I'm guessing the majority of homeschooled students in this area haven't been vaccinated. 

The possibility of these students being exposed to polio or (even less likely) small pox is miniscule, but not nonexistent.  I can see a preventable communicable disease (mumps, measles, whooping cough) spreading like wildfire in these populations. 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

40 minutes ago, Howl said:

The possibility of these students being exposed to polio or (even less likely) small pox is miniscule, but not nonexistent.  I can see a preventable communicable disease (mumps, measles, whooping cough) spreading like wildfire in these populations.

Small pox has been eradicated, meaning that the virus doesn't exist outside one or two research labs. This means that, barred some apocalyptic movie scenario, there's zero possibility for small pox to resurface anywhere.

Otoh polio virus still exists in the wild in one, maybe two or maybe maybe three countries. We don't know for certain because polio can be carried by healthy people that spread it through the community without it being apparent. That's why vaccine is of utmost importance.

In countries with poor sanitation and where polio is still endemic vaccinations are carried out with the Sabin vaccine that is an attenuated version of the virus that colonises the gut but can't spread to the CNS prompting a lifelong immunisation. This vaccine has an advantage in that it can be spread by the vaccinated person through the community and therefore immunizing more people that won't risk catching the wild strains. The drawback is that when the immunisation rate through the wider community drops too low the vaccine attenuated virus regains virulence while it spreads in undervaccinated communities. These vaccine derived viruses are less devastating than the wild strains but they can still cause paralysis. This is basically what happened in Syria and can potentially happen in Venezuela with the crumbling of economy, healthcare and sanitation.

A lot of countries like the US and European countries switched to the Salk vaccine many years ago. The Salk vaccine is based on the dead virus and therefore offers immunisation only to the vaxxed person and can't spread throughout the community therefore making more difficult for vaccine derived viruses to spread as they should come from abroad. The theoretical danger exists but is luckily very low and I hope for all those kids that it will never materialise.

[dawbs]

7 hours ago, samira_catlover said:

May ALL the beloved kindly Gods protect children (and heck, anyone else!) against preventable evil and sickness!

Had a classmate in nursing school with a limp.  The polio vaccine wasn't available till about 6 months after he got sick.  Probably preaching to the choir here, but if you get badly sick with polio--here's what an iron lung looks like (see link).*snip

*joining in the preaching to the choir*
So many anti-vaxers will tell you how mild polio usually is--and they're right, it *usually* is mild.  But, my gramps was a polio survivor and he said the most painful experience of his entire life (and he had more than a few painful experiences) was the pains in his legs when he had to re-learn how to walk.  It affected him for the next 80+ years.  
AND that's WITHOUT the poorly-understood ramifications of post-polio syndrome.  Toward the end of his life there was a continuing struggle to figure out what of his issues were caused by which if his diseases, because while he had Parkinson's, he was also a polio survivor, and the pain and tremors and re-paralysis could be attributed to either, and it made medicating a challenge.  He had, luckily, never lost lung function when he had polio, but lost it due to post-polio syndrome.

[SoSoNosy]

Several children in my small-town school had polio; three that I knew personally.  One had a weakened right leg/foot and walked with a slight limp.  Her parents were teachers so had a reasonable income; they rigged the accelerator of their car so that she could drive with her left foot, and she used her left foot for piano pedals.  She also had the surgery that was required for better healing right away.  One didn't have the surgery, and one of her legs withered; she wore a brace and was on crutches.  I have seen her at class reunions and she walks without crutches now, so I guess she had some kind of surgery at some time.  The third spent some time in an iron lung but ended up without obvious damage; she was a cheerleader all through the middle and high school years.  My daughter's mother-in-law had it and one leg was shortened; she walked with a severe limp and had the sole of her shoes on that leg built up.  She later had post polio syndrome and had to go into a brace/cane situation.  I don't know what she died from because she had also had a severe stroke.

[GutenbergGirl]

I would probably be considered 'anti-vax' to some degree, at least when my kids were young enough for it to be my decision -- not militantly so, but some.  

My daughter was a preemie, so we adamantly refused to allowed her to get the HepB vaccine before she left the NICU.  My thought was, "you just spent several hours going over all the bacteria and viruses that could potentially kill my not-quite-4-lb preemie, but now you wanna shove a virus in her leg?  How 'bout NO?!"  I mean, it's not like she was going to suddenly develop an IV drug habit!  

We delayed all of her vaccines till she was 6 months old (3.5 months corrected age), and then she got them on a modified, slower schedule.  

I held off on the chicken pox vaccine for all of them, because I would have preferred them to have natural immunity.  Alas, despite being homeschoolers, we never did find a good case to catch.  They were vaccinated at around 13 years old or so for that.  

All that being said, I got shingles when I was 35, and if they would give me the vaccine, I would get outta bed, put clothes on, and go there now!!!  OMG, that was a horrible few months!!!

[Howl]

9 hours ago, GutenbergGirl said:

All that being said, I got shingles when I was 35, and if they would give me the vaccine, I would get outta bed, put clothes on, and go there now!!!  OMG, that was a horrible few months!!!

I've already had the original shingles vaccine; now I'm going to get my 2nd Shingrix shot today (it's a two-shot series).  Shingrix is the new shingles vaccine that is 90% effective.  So many people are requesting it that pharmacies are having a hard time keeping it in stock. 

[CTRLZero]

3 hours ago, Howl said:

now I'm going to get my 2nd Shingrix shot today (it's a two-shot series). 

I am just recovering from my first of two shingles shots.  It wasn't too bad, but there was localized muscle pain from the injection site up to my neck.  (Yes, I'm being whiny, lol.)  A couple friends have recently gotten shingles, one hospitalized for almost a week, so I was glad to finally get the vaccine.   I did have to wait about a month until I received the first shot because of shortages.  We basically followed the delivery truck to the pharmacy.  Apparently, the recommended age to get the vaccine has dropped from 60 to 50, at least according to the handout sheet we received at the pharmacy.  I told my sister she could get one sooner than later.  Shingles is so miserable, as my friends described it.

[Bethella]

The CDC and WHO have confirmed a vaccine derived polio outbreak in Papua New Guinea. One child with symptoms, two others tested positive but don't have symptoms. This is the country's first cases since 2000. https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/26/health/polio-papua-new-guinea-bn/index.html

[AliceInFundyland]

And there has now been a confirmed case of measles in an under 5 year old  - Portland metro area. Kid came through a child care center and an ER.

[dpndetfarm]

I know I'm a bit late to the party, but I have always said if the antivaxers are so confident that natural immunity from catching whatever disease it is is the best way to go then i want them to expose their children to poliovirus.  my mom and her cousins had polio as children. They avoided the iron lung, but were very ill. My mom now has postpolio syndrome.  she startid going here   http://spauldingrehab.org/conditions-and-treatments/post-polio

about 10 or 15 years ago when it's existence was still not being taken seriously. She found out she was a lot sicker than she ever thought. They have made her life so much more livable. She now goes down once a year for an overnight (paid for by medicare? Senior healthcare). She is a lucky survivor.

 

And here is a tidbit for you. Chickenpox can kill you know. My kids were getting chickenpox as the vaccine was coming out so not much I could do there. I had it as a child and was so sick it was pretty scary. my mom was a nurse so i had extra competent care or Iwould have spent many days in hospital . I remember almost none of it. I was blind for a time. My mom tells me I had chickenpox in every orifice of my 3 year old body. The house was dark and silent. I had my first case of shingles at 24. Get your damn kids vaccinated!

[milkteeth]

On 6/13/2018 at 4:08 AM, Howl said:

Neighbor maybe 15 years ago did not vaccinate his young kids, until he got  a post-doc in the Middle East.  Then the entire family got the full sequence for everybody before leaving the US.  

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria still had polio cases as recently as four years ago, and health-care workers in Pakistan and Afghanistan attempting to vaccinate for polio are murdered periodically, as recently as January of this year.  At this point, more people are dying from trying to prevent polio in those countries than are dying or sickened from the disease.  Thanks, Taliban.  Google "health care workers vaccinating for polio killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan" and quite a few articles will come up. 

 

Also it turns out that the CIA posed as healthcare workers specifically giving out vaccinations to children while in Pakistan looking for Osama bin Laden. This is something that healthcare officials have repeatedly asked them not to do, because it erodes trust within these communities and then disease flourishes. 

 

How the CIA's Fake Vaccination Campaign Endangers Us All

[HarryPotterFan]

17 hours ago, milkteeth said:

 

Also it turns out that the CIA posed as healthcare workers specifically giving out vaccinations to children while in Pakistan looking for Osama bin Laden. This is something that healthcare officials have repeatedly asked them not to do, because it erodes trust within these communities and then disease flourishes. 

 

How the CIA's Fake Vaccination Campaign Endangers Us All

This endlessly pisses me off. Ugh.

There is a measles outbreak in an isolated Amazonian tribe. Outbreaks like this in communities that have low immunity to diseases can be catastrophic. Some representatives of the Yanomami tribe have asked Venezuelan authorities for help, but I don’t know how much they’d be able to at this point with all the chaos going on.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/05/health/brazil-amazon-yanomami-tribe-measles-intl/index.html

[karen77]

I had an uncle that died of polio when he was 6. His twin brother survived (not sure he even had it, likely not). Granted had this not happened, my mom might not have been born. But just awful to go through losing a child this way.

[AmazonGrace]

you don't have to be smart to be rich 

 

[PlentyOfJesusFishInTheSea]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

you don't have to be smart to be rich  

 

 

The good news is that that article was from 2014 and after the 2014 measles outbreak, vaccination rates went up in California: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/upshot/measles-vaccination-california-students.html.

I'm not sure why The Atlantic just put it up on Instagram but there you go.

[SilverBeach]

I had a TDAP and flu shot earlier this week, I believe in vaccinations of every type. As a person with chronic health conditions, I resent those who rely on herd immunity while putting the rest of us at higher risk for contracting wholly preventable dread diseases. I hope the folks in Venezuela have unfettered access to vaccinations and are not just following truly stupid and ignorant anti-vax sentiment. The polio vaccine was new when I was a child, but I still know some folks just a year or two older than me who have non-functioning limbs because of it.

[Dandruff]

On 6/25/2018 at 9:08 AM, Howl said:

I've already had the original shingles vaccine; now I'm going to get my 2nd Shingrix shot today (it's a two-shot series).  Shingrix is the new shingles vaccine that is 90% effective.  So many people are requesting it that pharmacies are having a hard time keeping it in stock. 

How are you feeling after the Shingrix (if you don't mind my asking)?  Multiple people in my family have had multiple cases of shingles, so I really don't want to mess around.  I had the first shingles vaccine about 5 years ago, and had no problem with it, and I've been advised to get the Shingrix shots.  Had a fairly bad case of chicken pox in the mid 1960s.