Who needs to worry about the “emergency” polio?

Although New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently declared polio a state emergency after samples of the virus were found in sewage in New York City and four surrounding counties, public health experts say it’s not time press the panic button.

“The risk to the majority of the public is very small,” said Hannah Newman, director of infection prevention at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “Polio is something we know how to prevent, the vaccine is part of our routine immunization schedule and our overall immunization rates are high.”

However, the new emergency regulation expands who can give a polio vaccine to include emergency responders, midwives and pharmacists. Healthcare providers are also required to send vaccine data to the New York State Department of Health and Human Services so experts can identify and target areas with low rates of polio vaccination.

The reason the virus is showing up in sewage is likely due to falling vaccination rates in select states. Researchers first began testing sewage after an unvaccinated Rockland County person was diagnosed with polio in July.

The polio vaccine is considered one of the greatest public health achievements of all time. Before the vaccine became widely available in 1955, polio paralyzed more than 35,000 people each year, and children were most at risk.

“Polio has been eradicated, but we still get a number of shots as babies who have to go to school,” Newman explained.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children get four doses of the polio vaccine — at ages 2 months, 4 months, 6 to 18 months, and at ages 4 to 6 years.

Children under the age of 3 are at highest risk of severe polio infection. “Check your children’s vaccination status and if another dose is due, now is the time to get it,” she said.

Polio is highly contagious and is spread through contact with an infected person’s stool and sometimes by airborne droplets from a sneeze or cough.

The message is clear, said Dr. Bernard Camins, medical director for infection prevention at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.

All New Yorkers who are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated should be vaccinated against polio immediately, Camins said.

“The best thing is to vaccinate as many people as possible, even if polio is low in the community,” he said. “If you were born before 1980 you are probably fully vaccinated because we were so strict back then and there was no objection to vaccinations.”

The new regulation isn’t a reason to vaccinate your children early: it’s just a reminder to keep track of the vaccination schedule. “If you missed some footage because of COVID-19, make sure to catch up,” Camins said.

“I don’t think polio will be the next pandemic because so many people are immune,” he said. “We will continue to see the disease smolder and potentially cripple a few more people, but it will not spread like COVID-19.”

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