Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2023 Jul 12:151:e120.
doi: 10.1017/S0950268823001127.

Poliovirus outbreak in New York State, August 2022: qualitative assessment of immediate public health responses and priorities for improving vaccine coverage

Ben Kasstan  1   2 , Sandra Mounier-Jack  1   2 , Tracey Chantler  1   2 , Nina Masters  3 , Stephen A Flores  4 , Shannon Stokley  4 , Haillie Meek  3   5 , Delia Easton  5 , Tatiana De Luna-Evans  6 , Maria Souto  6 , Chitra Punjabi  6 , Patricia Schnabel Ruppert  6 , Eli Rosenberg  5 , Janell Routh  4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Poliovirus outbreak in New York State, August 2022: qualitative assessment of immediate public health responses and priorities for improving vaccine coverage

Ben Kasstan et al. Epidemiol Infect. .

Abstract

In 2022, a case of paralysis was reported in an unvaccinated adult in Rockland County (RC), New York. Genetically linked detections of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) were reported in multiple New York counties, England, Israel, and Canada. The aims of this qualitative study were to: i) review immediate public health responses in New York to assess the challenges in addressing gaps in vaccination coverage; ii) inform a longer-term strategy to improving vaccination coverage in under-vaccinated communities, and iii) collect data to support comparative evaluations of transnational poliovirus outbreaks. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with public health professionals, healthcare professionals, and community partners. Results indicate that i) addressing suboptimal vaccination coverage in RC remains a significant challenge after recent disease outbreaks; ii) the poliovirus outbreak was not unexpected and effort should be invested to engage mothers, the key decision-makers on childhood vaccination; iii) healthcare providers (especially paediatricians) received technical support during the outbreak, and may require resources and guidance to effectively contribute to longer-term vaccine engagement strategies; vi) data systems strengthening is required to help track under-vaccinated children. Public health departments should prioritize long-term investments in appropriate communication strategies, countering misinformation, and promoting the importance of the routine immunization schedule.

Keywords: New York; childhood vaccination; poliovirus; qualitative research; vaccine engagement.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare none.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Description and recruitment numbers of interview participants.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Key elements of community-level vaccine engagement strategies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Link-Gelles R, Lutterloh E, Schnabel Ruppert P, Backenson PB, St. George K, Rosenberg ES, Anderson BJ, Fuschino M, Popowich M, Punjabi C, Souto M, McKay K, Rulli S, Insaf T, Hill D, Kumar J, Gelman I, Jorba J, Ng TFF, Gerloff N, Masters NB, Lopez A, Dooling K, Stokley S, Kidd S, Oberste MS, Routh J, 2022 U.S. Poliovirus Response Team, 2022 U.S. Poliovirus Response Team, Belgasmi H, Brister B, Bullows JE, Burns CC, Castro CJ, Cory J, Dybdahl-Sissoko N, Emery BD, English R, Frolov AD, Getachew H, Henderson E, Hess A, Mason K, Mercante JW, Miles SJ, Liu H, Marine RL, Momin N, Pang H, Perry D, Rogers SL, Short B, Sun H, Tobolowsky F, Yee E, Hughes S, Omoregie E, Rosen JB, Zucker JR, Alazawi M, Bauer U, Godinez A, Hanson B, Heslin E, McDonald J, Mita-Mendoza NK, Meldrum M, Neigel D, Suitor R, Larsen DA, Egan C, Faraci N, Feumba GS, Gray T, Lamson D, Laplante J, McDonough K, Migliore N, Moghe A, Ogbamikael S, Plitnick J, Ramani R, Rickerman L, Rist E, Schoultz L, Shudt M, Krauchuk J, Medina E, Lawler J, Boss H, Barca E, Ghazali D, Goyal T, Marinelli SJP, Roberts JA, Russo GB, Thakur KT and Yang VQ (2022) Public health response to a case of paralytic poliomyelitis in an unvaccinated person, and detection of poliovirus in wastewater – New York, June–August 2022. The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 71, 1065–1068. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/pdfs/mm7133e2-H.pdf (accessed 21 October 2022). - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization (2022) Detection of circulating vaccine derived polio virus 2 (cvdpv2) in environmental samples - The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. Geneva: World Health Organization, 14 Sep. Available at https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON408 (accessed 21 October 2022).
    1. World Health Organization (2022) Statement of the thirty-third polio IHR emergency committee. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1 Nov. Available at https://www.who.int/news/item/01-11-2022-statement-of-the-thirty-third-p... (accessed 9 November 2022).
    1. Pan American Health Organization (2022) Epidemiological update: Detection of poliovirus in wastewater: Considerations for the region of the Americas. Washington, DC: Pan American Health Organization. 30 Dec. Epidemiological Update - Detection of poliovirus in wastewater. Available at https://www.paho.org/en/documents/epidemiological-update-detection-polio... (accessed 29 January 2023).
    1. Hill M, Bandyopadhyay S and Pollard AJ (2022) Emergence of vaccine-derived poliovirus in high-income settings in the absence of oral polio vaccine use. Lancet 400, 713–715. 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01582-3 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Substances