Health
CDC Issues Warning: Polio Circulating in Popular Tourist Destinations
The CDC advises Americans planning spring and summer trips to check polio vaccination status for 32 countries, including popular spots like the UK, Germany, Spain, and Israel.
Polio circulates in parts of Europe, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean due to declining vaccination rates worldwide.
Health Points
- Ensure you’re up to date on polio shots before travel to at-risk areas.
- Consider a booster even after completing the full childhood series for extra protection.
- Fully vaccinated individuals face near-zero risk of infection.
Polio spreads through contaminated food, water, or poor hand hygiene after defecation.
While most infections cause no symptoms or mild flu-like issues, about 1 in 200 leads to permanent paralysis, with 5 to 10 percent of those cases fatal from breathing failure.
There is no cure, but vaccination eliminated polio in the US by 1979.
“Polio continues to be an issue and is an increasing issue in many countries of the world related primarily to decreases in vaccination,” says Robert H. Hopkins Jr., MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
“If you are fully vaccinated, your risk is extremely low — near zero — of getting a polio infection,” Dr. Hopkins says.
Adam Lauring, MD, PhD, chief of infectious diseases at University of Michigan Medical School, notes many forget polio’s severity today.
“I’ve never seen a case of polio as a physician, but I know people in their seventies or eighties who have had polio — it’s something you carry with you your whole life and we don’t have any real treatments,” he says.
Consult your doctor to discuss polio boosters, especially if immunocompromised or heading to surprise hotspots like London.
These safe shots offer peace of mind for worry-free adventures.
