Anti-vaccine activists giddily celebrate as poliovirus spreads in NY

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to ramp up efforts to stop the spread of the disease in New York, anti-vaccine activists are celebrating the fact that there has been a decrease in the number of children getting their vaccinations.

The CDC published new information on the case of paralytic polio in New York's Rockland county. The case began in June of this year. The report states that the man had flaccid weakness in both legs because of the infections.

There were 260 wastewater samples tested as of August 10. The report states that twenty-one of the 260 samples tested positive, with positive detections occurring in May, June, and July. Sewage samples in New York City had also tested positive.

Since the case was identified, health officials have been pushing to increase vaccinations. Most people in the US get three doses of the vaccine before they're 24 months old. The three doses are effective at preventing the disease. According to the CDC report Tuesday, some zip-codes in Rockland have low vaccine rates for babies with the disease.

Even in a county with low vaccination rates, that rate is eye-catching. The county-wide vaccine rate for infants has fallen from 67 percent in July of 2020 to 60 percent today. That's below New York's overall rate of about 81 percent, which is also below the national average of 93 percent.

The US has seen a slight dip in vaccine rates. According to a report published by the CDC in April of this year, vaccination rates among kindergarteners fell by about 1% for the 2020-2021 school year. Many people avoided non-urgent medical visits at the height of the coronaviruses crisis, which included children's well visits, in order to get their vaccinations. There's widespread concern among physicians and health experts that politically motivated attacks on COVID-19 vaccine have spilled over to other vaccines, leading parents to doubt routine, life-saving immunizations. Anti-vaccine activists are happy.

Falsehoods and scare quotes

On Friday, the anti-vaccine organization Children's Health Defense published an article about the dip in vaccination. The site run by anti-vaccine activist and peddler of dangerous misinformation Robert F. Kennedy made a false claim that a vaccine dip in 2020 would reduce deaths from SIDS. The rate of SIDS has remained relatively stable for several years according to the CDC.

The organization wrote on Friday that New York health officials are faking the spread of the disease. Health officials were accused of stoking fears about a resurgence of vaccine-preventable illnesses. Following a single case of paralysis attributed to 'polio', New York State is trying to create an outbreak.

A single case of the disease in New York suggests that hundreds if not thousands of others have been exposed. The CDC's report states that the community is at risk for additional cases of paralytic polio due to low vaccine coverage. There is a public health emergency in the US. The report, led by Ruth Link-Gelles and the CDC's 2022, US Poliovirus Response Team, is increasing the number of cases that are not paralytic.

The vast majority of the US population are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases, and experts fear that anti-vaccine sentiment will lead to more and more incidences of vaccine-preventable diseases. Dozens of state Legislatures have considered legislation to roll back childhood vaccine requirements.