CDC points Level 2 journey advisory over polio as spring break approaches

KENT COUNTY, Mich. — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 2 travel advisory attributable to spreading polio circumstances in additional than 30 nations, together with in style trip locations like Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Dr. Andrew Jameson, an infectious illness physician with Trinity Health, says polio is a virus that may have severe penalties.

“Polio virus is in the family of something called enterovirus. We have lots of them circulating. It can cause just a common cold. It can cause kind of some rare causes of meningitis, but this is a unique one that attacks our nervous system,” Jameson mentioned.

In some circumstances, that may even result in paralysis. Jameson says the consequences of polio can even resurface later.

“This is something that can come back later in life. And actually, one of the things we’re seeing right now in some of our elderly population is that people who had polio as a kid, even if they have no residual deficits, will have increased rates of falls, increased balance issues, muscle weakness that we’re seeing right now,” Jameson mentioned.

Polio vaccines are a part of routine childhood immunizations, however Jameson says adults touring overseas may wish to think about a booster.

“It’s an inactivated polio vaccine. You can get them from the health department. A lot of primary care offices also will have them,” Jameson mentioned.

The final pure polio an infection within the U.S. was recorded in 1979.

For vacationers staying stateside this spring break, measles can also be a priority. States with sunny destinations, like South Carolina and Florida, are currently seeing some of the largest measles outbreaks.

“Measles is not cool. It sucks,” Jameson mentioned. “You get pretty sick, you feel pretty crummy, very high fevers, and then the characteristic rash is what is really there. So it’s a non blanching rash, which means that if you push on it, the rash doesn’t go away. Typically, chest and face. You get it. It’s quite prominent,” Jameson mentioned.

For vaccinated vacationers, nevertheless, Jameson says the danger stays comparatively low.

“Make sure you’re up to date, but if you actually talked about the real risk, it’s pretty low for travelers, even inside the United States right now. So it’s not something that I lose sleep over,” Jameson mentioned.

The CDC’s polio journey advisory is rated Level 2 out of a doable 4.

You can discover the full list of impacted countries on the CDC’s website here.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been transformed to this platform with the help of AI. Our editorial workforce verifies all reporting on all platforms for equity and accuracy.

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