Infant from central Minnesota infected with virus that causes polio

[dflprincess]

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5645999.html

Associated Press
October 2, 2005 POLIO1002
Health officials are investigating the case of an infant from central Minnesota who was infected with the virus that causes polio, the Minnesota Department of Health said today.

The infant is hospitalized but does not have symptoms of the paralytic illnesses that sometimes result from a polio infection, the department said. The child had previously been diagnosed with immune system problems.

"It is important to note that there is no risk to the general public,'' Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach said in a statement.

But the department said this is the first case of polio infection reported in the United States since 2000, when the country stopped using the live-virus oral polio vaccine.
The last case of naturally occurring polio in the United States was reported in 1979, and naturally occurring polio is considered eradicated in the Western Hemisphere. The last case of polio reported in Minnesota had been in 1992, and it was a vaccine-related case, according to the department's Web site.

All vaccinations in the United States are now done with an injected, killed-virus vaccine. Before use of the live virus vaccine was halted, it caused an average of about eight cases of paralytic polio a year in the United States, the department said.

"Only unvaccinated people who have had direct contact with the infant are at risk, and we are following up directly with them to make sure their immunizations are up to date,'' said Kris Ehresmann, who heads the department's immunization section. "If you don't hear from a public health or health care official, you're not at risk.''

About 93 percent of Minnesota residents have had the full primary series of three polio shots, which was usually given during infancy.

[CatholicEdHead]

1. Was this kid given the shots?

Or did the parent(s) refuse them?

[dflprincess]

3. The article doesn't say

It did say that because of privacy laws very little information about the child would be released.

[dflprincess]

7. WCCO reports that the child had not had polio shots

because of other medical problems. The paper did make mention of the baby having an immune system problem.

[trotsky]

8. Which further proves the value of immunization.

Some people, like this infant, simply cannot get vaccinations because of their immune system. They depend on the rest of us being vaccinated or otherwise immune to not transmit the disease to them.

Healthy people who refuse vaccination must recognize they share some of the blame when it comes to cases like this.

[electron_blue]

9. even an infant immunized on schedule would not have had many

polio shots by then. They don't say how old the child was, but by referring to him/her as "infant" I'm guessing he/she was quite young.

[jwirr]

2. I live in Minnesota and one thing I know about this

is that this child will have medical care. Even with a repub. gov. we have maintained our health care system - especially for children. I also trust them to tell the truth - too many of us are activists and somewhere it would leak and they know it so they usually tell the truth in the first place.

[preciousdove]

5. Unless kids have Lyme Disease; or dental problems (2003-2005)

Minnesota "community standards" (letter to me from MnDH) do not recognize Lyme treatment failures or failure to test positive. Tests are useless even CDC admits it because they are too specific omitting species in this area (developed for the East Coast). The disease leaves the blood stream at 6 weeks and antibodies are only produced rarely, a complete response to a bad case and there are no free antibodies to find and some people, the sickest, are genetically incapable of producing antibodies. They succumb to a ALS like disease within a year. The measure of whether a Lyme test is approved is that it finds slightly greater than 1 in 3 cases of BLOOD BOURNE illness (see about 6 weeks above).

20% of those infected who are not properly treated will develop severe neurological and other health problems that totally debilitate them within 2 years. That is why the MS diagnosis have skyrocketed here as well as we so many chronically ill people than in the past.

Huge PR campaign to spread lies about the disease and keep the public from knowing how bad can be and actually is. CDC/NIH staffers have documented conflicts of interest regarding Lyme Disease.

A new group formed to again try to do something about it but it has been our experience that without the DFL in power in the Governors office and the Legislature nothing will be done. (tourism, gov research contracts and insurance who by doing nothing get about 98% of victims off of their private rolls and into the ground or onto public insurance. The other 2% are new naive doctors who don't know the system here yet. Typically they treat 2 or 3 patients before they are reined in)

50 percent of the original support groups from the 1990's have died of complications. Another 25% moved out of state specifically to get treatment. The remaining 25% travel out of state for treatment at their own expense. The PGAs send people to South Africa for a cure to bypass the media and insurance here.

Dental coverage is being restored in 2006.

[jwirr]

6. Didn't know about the lyme disease and forgot the dental

services mess. Dental is a problem for everyone on assistance of any kind in MN.

I tried to get a dentist appointment for an adult parent who has MNCARE and have called every dentist in the Duluth area. No one is taking new patients. One of the interesting calls I made was accidentally to a dental surgeons office. When they told me I said, "Oh you are the ones they send us to when we have not had dental care for years. They are not saving one cent by refusing us care." The receptionist said, "Yes, we are the people you finally come to after it is too late. And yes, they are not saving money."

[wellstone dem]

4. I wonder where in Central Minnesota the child

was from.

[electron_blue]

10. you and me both

I don't like how they say there is no public health threat. The infant had to have contracted the polio from someone else. You don't just catch it out of thin air, right?

[dflprincess]

11. I recall seeing a "Nova" about polio once and they said

the polio germ can live in dirt. In fact, it's one disease that became more prevalent as hygene improved. Prior to decent plumbing pretty much everyone was exposed to the germ and developed immunity. Quite often it manifested itself with symptoms no worse than a bad cold. Many times it was misdiagnosed as scarlet fever or someother malady.

[trotsky]

12. Yes.

Polio virus, I've heard, can survive in soil for a long time. Which is one of the reasons we continue to vaccinate even though it's so rare - it will always be with us.