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From: PPSENG@...
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: September is "Polio Vaccination Month"...
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 08:07:03 EDT

PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR POST-POLIO SUPPORT GROUP NEWSLETTER AND LOCAL
NEWSPAPERS...

International Post-Polio Task Force Proclaims September "Polio Vaccination
Month."

Polio, although forgotten, is far from gone. Last year's five
unvaccinated Minnesota children and one Arizona adult who developed polio
are the
canaries in the mineshaft. The CDC reports that 10% of US toddlers under 3
years old
-- one million children -- are not vaccinated against polio, with
vaccination
lowest in poor cities. In Newark, 14% of children are unvaccinated. In
Detroit, 22% are unvaccinated. Since the poliovirus in Minnesota and
Arizona is
from the Sabin live vaccine, no longer used in the US, it has to have been
imported into the country. This is especially frightening since polio has
broken
free of the international vaccination effort. Polio has spread from Africa
through Indonesia, with 1,000 new cases reported in 2005 and more new cases
just
reported in India.
The danger of ignoring polio has been recognized by the US Senate and
the
State of New Jersey, which have both proclaimed 2006 the "Year of Polio
Education," education about vaccination and Post-Polio Sequelae, the
disabling
fatigue, muscle weakness, and pain occurring in middle-aged polio survivors.
New
Jersey's "Polio Education Bill" was just implemented, a letter about polio
vaccination and PPS having been mailed from the health commissioner to every
health professional in the state. Similar bill are pending in the New York
and
California Legislatures. And September will be "Polio Vaccination Month,"
to
remind parents that polio, although forgotten, is not gone.
An avian flu epidemic is a clear, but not yet present, danger. The US
cases make a polio epidemic both a clear and present danger. What happens
if a
polio-infected individual lands in a densely populated city like New York,
where 23,000 toddlers are unvaccinated? Every child must be vaccinated
because
America's next polio epidemic may be just a plane ride away.

Dr. Richard L. Bruno
Chairperson
International Post-Polio Task Force
and
Director
The Post-Polio Institute
and
International Centre for Post-Polio Education and Research
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
Englewood, New Jersey U.S.A. 07631
Phone: (201) 894-3724 Toll Free: 1-877-POST-POLIO
Fax: (201) 541-6491
POSTPOLIOINFO@...