Joe Randig: Vaccination the key to preventing more polio outbreaks

As long as polio exists anywhere, it is a threat everywhere, as evidenced by the recent paralysis of a young man and the detection of the poliovirus in the sewage in five counties in New York.

Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have made great strides over the past 30-plus years to reduce polio cases by 99.9%. As we mark World Polio Day today, what’s happened to our neighbors in New York serves as a stark reminder that we still have work to do to increase the number of children who are vaccinated for this terrible disease.

Here in the United States, we often hear that vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio are no longer a threat. As a polio survivor and a friend of Rotarians in our area, I encourage everyone to support immunization as the only protection against many childhood diseases that we thought were no longer a threat.

From encouraging vaccine acceptance to sharing fact-based vaccination information to advocating for polio eradication funding with elected officials, there are so many ways in which we can each work to end polio for good. We must all do our part to prevent polio outbreaks in our own communities and continue the march toward global eradication.

Smallpox was eradicated in 1980. We have an opportunity to make history by ending polio, making it only the second human disease to have that marvelous distinction. The Pennsylvania Department of Health issued a statewide advisory for health care professionals. It clearly advises, “Keeping patients up to date on their polio vaccination is the most important way providers can prevent polio.”

The safety and efficacy of the inactivated polio vaccine (Salk vaccine) is well documented. It is the only vaccine to be given in the United States since 2000. As evidenced in New York, for those who have not been vaccinated, the time for urgent action is now.

Polio survivors all over the U.S. and abroad celebrate Rotary’s efforts to eradicate this disease, once and for all. We know, without question, that no child should suffer from a vaccine-preventable disease. The pain and disability can last a lifetime.

To learn more about World Polio Day, visit endpolio.org. Learn how you can get involved.

Joe Randig is Western Pennsylvania coordinator for the Pennsylvania Polio Network (papolionetwork.org).