INTERNATIONAL
POST-POLIO TASK FORCE
International Centre for Post-Polio Education and Research
at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
Englewood, New Jersey  07631  USA
877-Post-Polio   201-894-3724
PostPolioInfo@aol.com
PostPolioInfo.com

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CLICK on NIPP IT poster to print out a copy

AS POLIO RETURNS TO THE US, POLIO VACCINATION DECREASES AMONG TODDLERS.  "NIPP IT" CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCED TO PREVENT AMERICA’S NEXT POLIO EPIDEMIC.

September 24, 2007: ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY USA -- The Centers for Disease Control’s just-reported drops in U.S. polio vaccination, and polio’s recent importation into America, has prompted the International Post-Polio Task Force (IPTF) to announce a new polio immunization campaign.  The National Immunization for Polio Prevention in Infants and Toddlers - or "NIPP IT" -- Campaign aims to prevent America's next polio epidemic.  The NIPP IT Campaign will be launched in partnership with Every Child by Two (ECBT.org), cofounded by former First Ladies Rosalynn Carter and Betty Bumpers to promote immunization of all children by age two.

Alarming Drops in Polio Vaccination in Border States and Ports of Entry

Twenty states and ten large US cities showed drops from 2005 to 2006 in polio vaccination among toddlers, according to the August 30, 2007 CDC National Immunization Survey.

"The reductions in polio vaccination are very disturbing," said Dr. Richard L. Bruno, Chairperson of the International Post-Polio Task Force. "While there was a nationwide increase in polio vaccination of about 1%, twenty states had a reduction of more than 2%, while in ten cities polio vaccination dropped nearly 3%," added Bruno, who is also director of The Post-Polio Institute and International Centre for Post-Polio Education and Research at New Jersey's Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. 

Even more disturbing, states with the largest drops in polio vaccination are on the borders with Mexico and Canada.  Along the Mexican border, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico reported an average drop of one and one-half percent.  Seventy percent of the states that border Canada reported average reductions in polio vaccination of about 3%.  Montana had a 6% decrease and Maine dropped 7%.   “Even Minnesota had a decrease, which is frightening,” said Dr. Bruno.  Five Minnesota children caught polio in 2005 after coming in contact with someone carrying poliovirus who was visiting from Canada.

Dr. Bruno is also concerned about cities that are major points of entry into the U.S. -- New York, Philadelphia, Houston and Seattle -- where a nearly 4% average drop in polio vaccination was reported.

In early July, an unvaccinated Pakistani college student flew to Australia and brought with him the naturally occurring poliovirus, bringing that country its first case of polio in twenty-one years.  Said Dr. Bruno,  “Given Australia’s recent experience, we must be concerned about poliovirus being flown into the U.S. given the ease of air travel from Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria, where polio has never come under control, and from the ten African and Asian nations that had been polio-free but where the poliovirus has been reintroduced.” 

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter agreed, saying, "Our country has come so far to protect against polio through universal vaccination.  We cannot afford to relax our efforts because polio is still a real problem in parts of the world and can easily be transported back to the U.S.  We cannot risk a single child to this terrible disease."

One Million U.S. Toddlers Unvaccinated

The CDC estimates that about 92% of US children 19-35 months old are vaccinated against polio.  "Ninety-two percent sounds pretty good, until you realize that leaves more than one million U.S. toddlers unvaccinated," said Dr. Bruno.  Toddlers living in poverty have the lowest polio vaccination rates -- below 87% in Boston, Indianapolis, Memphis and Phoenix, and below 85% in Detroit, Houston and Seattle -- rates lower than in Western Pacific countries that include Cambodia, Mongolia and Viet Nam.

"The children who had polio in Minnesota in 2005, and the Pakistani student in 2007, are canaries in the mine shaft," said Dr. Bruno.  "What will happen when a polio-infected traveler arrives in one of America's potential polio pockets, like New York City, and passes poliovirus to the estimated 50,000 infants and toddlers in that city who are not immunized?"

"NIPP IT" Campaign Follows "Year of Polio Awareness."

A resolution in the House of Representatives, sponsored by Representatives Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and Scott Garrett (R-NJ), proclaimed October 2006 to September 2007 "The Year of Polio Awareness," awareness of the need for polio vaccination and of Post-Polio Sequelae (PPS).  PPS are the disabling symptoms -- overwhelming fatigue, muscle weakness, pain, sleep disorders and sensitivity to anesthesia -- that occur more than 35 years after poliovirus infection in the world's 20 million polio survivors, two million of whom live in North America.

"The drops in polio vaccination show that there needs to be even more polio awareness so that we can nip an American polio epidemic in the bud,” said Dr. Bruno.  The "NIPP IT" Campaign’s goal is to remind parents, grandparents, health care professionals, hospitals and state health officials to vaccinate against polio.

Each state’s governor and department of health will be asked to declare April 19-26, 2008, already National Immunization Week, "NIPP IT Week," to insure that all American children receive four doses of the injectable, inactivated polio vaccine. 

Said Betty Bumpers, Former Arkansas First Lady, "I have seen the ravages of polio here in the U.S., prior to the development of the vaccine, and its current victims in Africa.  It is imperative that we keep our polio vaccination rates high to make certain that not one person in the U.S. suffers polio's consequences."

Dr. Bruno agreed, saying, "We must do more to vaccinate America's children against this deadly and disabling disease.  America's next polio epidemic could be just a plane ride away."