Preventing the Next Outbreak
As many of you already know, we are once again facing a new health concern in our County.
A resident of Rockland is confirmed to have polio, a contagious viral illness. I want to stress that if you are vaccinated, as the vast majority of Rocklanders are, you do not need to be concerned. Our efforts to prevent this from becoming the next outbreak are focused on vaccinations and figuring out if anyone else has been impacted by this.
To underline the significance of this, the last homegrown case of polio in the U.S. was 1979 and the last imported case was 1993.
The reason why polio is rarely seen is thanks to the wide availability of safe and effective vaccines, which decreased poliovirus from nearly 400,000 cases in the 80s to only 42 cases worldwide in 2016.
Circulation only happens or continues if overall vaccination rates remain low.
Many of you may be too young to remember polio but when I was growing up this disease struck fear in families, including my own.
Countywide, 379 polio vaccines were administered to Rockland residents since 7/21/22, including doses administered by the Rockland County Department of Health. The RCDOH which vaccinated 71 people for polio in two clinics launched in response to this case.
According to the New York State Department of Health, most Rockland County schools meet State vaccination requirements with at least 98% of students vaccinated against polio. Breaking down polio immunizations further, out of 144 public and private schools:
· 96% of schools are 90%+ immunized
· 3% of schools are 80-90% immunized
· <1% of schools are 79% immunized
I spoke with BOCES leadership which agreed to remind districts and families of vaccination requirements for school. My administration will be reviewing immunization information this fall to ensure compliance is happening in public and private schools. This is a follow-up conversation I already had with BOCES back in the Spring.
Additionally, this summer we sent 3,000 letters to families whose children were not up to date with vaccinations.
Rockland County is not immune to vaccine hesitancy, which was a contributing factor of the measles crisis we dealt with.
Wastewater samples tested from Rockland County Sewer District #1 (which serves the towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown, along with some parcels in Orangetown) from June 2022, revealed detectable polio virus which may have been from the singular confirmed case but was not detected in the Orangetown Sewer District area during the same period.
Currently, the County, NYS and CDC are continuing to collect and conduct tests of wastewater samples to determine if the virus is circulating, which may take time, but results will be disclosed as they become available.
In the meantime, I urge families to do the right thing for their own wellbeing and for the greater good of our community and get vaccinated now.
For more information about polio or to find out about upcoming clinics head to our website https://rocklandgov.com/.
