Polio News and Research

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Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause severe paralysis. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralyzed, 5-10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized. Polio mainly affects children under five years of age. Naturally occurring polio was eliminated in the U.S. in 1979 and in the Western Hemisphere by 1991; however, worldwide efforts are continuing towards eradication of this contagious and devastating disease.

Risk of myopericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination is very low, confirms study

The overall risk of myopericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination is very low, affecting 18 people per million vaccine doses. A new study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, confirms that this risk is comparable to or lower following COVID-19 vaccination than other non-COVID-19 vaccines.

13 Apr 2022

Colorado moves toward statewide coverage of wastewater surveillance

On a Sunday morning in March 2020, right at the start of the pandemic, an article in Popular Mechanics caught engineer Pieter Van Ry's eye. It had a catchy title: "How Poop Offers Hints About the Spread of Coronavirus."

12 Apr 2022

Polio vaccination campaign kicks off in Malawi and neighboring countries

A vaccination campaign targeting 23 million children has kicked off in Malawi and neighboring countries to contain an outbreak of wild polio declared last month, the World Health Organization says.

24 Mar 2022

Study links the usage of oral polio vaccines with lower incidence of COVID-19

A study published in the journal PLOS ONE showed how countries using oral polio vaccine have a lower incidence of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) when compared to those using inactivated polio vaccine – suggesting that the oral vaccine may either prevent the infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) at the individual level or slow down the transmission in the community.

21 Mar 2022

Texas Biomed and UAB partnership uncovers a new, potent antibody cocktail against all coronaviruses

As SARS-CoV-2 has continued to evolve and outsmart existing treatments, scientists have not let up looking for ever-more effective tools to keep people safe and successfully recover from COVID-19, and to prepare for future outbreaks.

18 Mar 2022

Malaria drug could help treat chemotherapy-resistant head and neck cancers

A new study suggests that the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine inhibits pathways that drive resistance to the chemotherapy agent cisplatin in head and neck cancers and restores tumor-killing effects of cisplatin in animal models.

14 Mar 2022

Canadian scientist discusses about how society could better prepare for future pandemics

Aled Edwards is of two minds about medicine's response to COVID-19. On one hand, he notes, we had life-saving vaccines and therapies less than a year after the discovery of SARS-CoV-2. On the other, more than six million, and possibly as many as 18 million people have died, and global access to advances that can prevent and treat severe disease remains highly inequitable.

11 Mar 2022

Implementing wastewater-based Covid-19 early warning system in Germany

Coronaviruses can be detected in wastewater some days before first disease symptoms develop. On this basis, it is possible to determine the number of infections more quickly, analyze the infection situation more precisely, and identify new Covid-19 variants and their spread at an earlier stage.

4 Mar 2022

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: A health-heavy State of the Union

Russia's attacks on Ukraine took the headlines for President Joe Biden's first official State of the Union address, but Biden made a point to highlight several of the administration's high-priority health issues, including covid, mental health, nursing home regulation, and ailments among military personnel from toxic burn pits.

3 Mar 2022

As covid slogs on, seniors find fortitude waning and malaise growing

Late one night in January, Jonathan Coffino, 78, turned to his wife as they sat in bed. "I don't know how much longer I can do this," he said, glumly.

18 Feb 2022

Polio, chickenpox, measles, now covid. It’s time to consult history on school vaccine mandates

The rapid spread of omicron across the nation — and the finding that vaccines continue to provide strong protection against severe disease — brings covid-19 one step closer, perhaps, to truly earning its place on the list of diseases that have been tamed by vaccines.

9 Feb 2022

Vaccine hypersensitivity in children

A new paper published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunity provides a useful overview of such reactions in relation to pediatric vaccines.

31 Jan 2022

Oral polio vaccine could play a role against COVID-19

In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers performed an economic evaluation of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to illustrate the potential non-specific (heterologous) effects (NSE) of live attenuated vaccines (LAVs).

25 Jan 2022

Vaccine wars ignite in California as lawmakers seek stronger laws

California is poised to become the front line of America's vaccination wars. State lawmakers are drafting the toughest covid-19 vaccine legislation in the country, backed by a new pro-vaccine lobbying force promising to counter anti-vaccine activists who have threatened government officials and shut down public meetings across the state.

24 Jan 2022

As omicron surges, effort to vaccinate young children stalls

Two months after Pfizer's covid vaccine was authorized for children ages 5 to 11, just 27% have received at least one shot, according to Jan. 12 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only 18%, or 5 million kids, have both doses.

15 Jan 2022

Recombinant adjuvanted zoster vaccination associated with lower risk of COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalization

A new study suggests that RZV may elicit durable innate immune responses in the elderly conferring heterologous protection against COVID-19. .

30 Dec 2021

How LA, calling the shots on school vaccine mandates, can lead the way on covid rules

On March 31, 1977, as a measles epidemic swept through Los Angeles, the county health department issued an ultimatum to the parents of the county's 1.6 million schoolchildren: Get your kids vaccinated within a month or keep them home.

13 Dec 2021

Omicron and other coronavirus variants: What you need to know

Americans, already weary of a pandemic nearly two years long, were dealt a new blow during the long Thanksgiving weekend: the announcement that a new coronavirus variant had emerged.

30 Nov 2021

SARS-CoV-2 reinfection and the natural immune response

Researchers review available literature on immunity and SARS-CoV-2 infection to elucidate mechanisms behind SARS-CoV-2 immunity and reinfections.

24 Nov 2021

Schools, pediatricians look to make up lost ground on non-covid vaccinations

Melissa Blatzer was determined to get her three children caught up on their routine immunizations on a recent Saturday morning at a walk-in clinic in this Denver suburb. It had been about a year since the kids' last shots, a delay Blatzer chalked up to the pandemic.

18 Nov 2021