International Post-Polio Task Force

at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
Englewood, New Jersey USA  07631
201-894-3724   877-POSTPOLIO
postpolioinfo@aol.com
PostPolioInfo.com/postpolio  

As you know, Congress has proclaimed 2007 the "YEAR OF POLIO AWARENESS."

I am writing to ask you to help polio survivors and all children by having September 2007 proclaimed POLIO AWARENESS MONTH.  

There are two areas about which everyone needs to be aware:  

Polio Vaccination Awareness:  In the past two years, polio has been reported in five unvaccinated Minnesota children and in one unvaccinated Arizona adult.  Unfortunately, the polio vaccine has been a victim of its own success, allowing parents to think that polio is "cured" and vaccination unnecessary.  It is feared that the recent US polio cases are 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.  

The appearance of polio in the U.S. again is especially frightening since polio has broken free of international vaccination efforts, with cases increasing in 2007 in India, Africa and appearing in previously polio-free countries, such as Namibia.  Even more frightening, not everyone infected with the poliovirus exhibits symptoms. For every case of paralytic polio, there are between 70 and 200 "silent carriers" of the poliovirus.  What will happen when a polio-infected individual from a foreign country lands in a densely populated city like New York, where an estimated 23,000 toddlers are unvaccinated?  Every child must be vaccinated since America's next polio epidemic could be just a plane ride away.  

Even more disturbing, 19 states now offer not just religious exemptions, but "philosophical exemptions," to vaccination.   Arkansas' recent passage of legislation allowing "philosophical exemptions" was followed by a 26% drop in vaccinations.  States should not allow "philosophical exemptions" to polio vaccination at the same time polio has broken free of international vaccination efforts.  

Post-Polio Sequelae Awareness:  In taking about polio vaccination, it should not be forgotten, as it was 50 years ago, that there are still nearly two million North Americans alive today who had polio during the epidemics of the 1940's, 50's and early 60's.   At least 70 percent of paralytic polio survivors and 40 percent of nonparalytic polio survivors are developing Post-Polio Sequelae, unexpected and often disabling symptoms that occur about 35 years after the poliovirus attack, including overwhelming fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain, sleep disorders, heightened sensitivity to anesthesia, cold and pain, and difficulty swallowing and breathing.  

Unfortunately, polio survivors and health professionals are not aware that PPS exist and are readily treated by reducing physical overexertion, "conserving to preserve" polio survivors' remaining poliovirus-damaged neurons, and not by exercising and the "use it or lose it" treatment polio survivors received 50 years ago.  Polio survivors and health professionals need to be aware of the cause and treatment of PPS.  

 Please go to PostPolioInfo.com/PostPolio, click on GOVERNORS LIST and call your governor's office.  Ask for the person in charge of proclamations and please FAX that person a copy of the letter below (also posted our web site) with your signature, asking your governor to proclaim September 2007 Polio Awareness Month, as polio survivors in Montana have already done.  

Please let me know if your governor signs a proclamation.  

As always, I appreciate your help and our working together to make Polio Awareness Month a reality.  

Yours truly,  

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  

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Dear Governor:  

Congress has proclaimed 2007 the "YEAR OF POLIO AWARENESS."  I ask that you proclaimed September 2007 POLIO AWARENESS MONTH.  

Polio Vaccination Awareness: In the past two years, polio has been reported in five unvaccinated Minnesota children and in one unvaccinated Arizona adult.  Unfortunately, the polio vaccine has been a victim of its own success in the US, allowing Americans to think that polio is "cured" and that vaccination unnecessary.  These US polio cases may be canaries in the mineshaft.  The Centers for Disease Control reports that <I>10%<I> of US toddlers under 3 years old  -- <I>one million children<I> -- are not vaccinated against polio, with vaccination lowest in poor areas.  

The appearance of polio in the U.S. is especially frightening since polio has broken free of international vaccination efforts, with cases increasing in 2007 in India and Africa.  Equally frightening, not everyone infected with poliovirus shows symptoms. For every case of paralytic polio, there are between 70 and 200 "silent poliovirus carriers."  What will happen when a polio-infected individual from a foreign country lands in a densely populated city like New York, where an estimated 23,000 toddlers are unvaccinated?  Every child must be vaccinated since America's next polio epidemic could be just a plane ride away.  

Post-Polio Sequelae Awareness:  In promoting about polio vaccination, it should not be forgotten, as it was 50 years ago, that there are still nearly two million North Americans alive today who had polio during the epidemics of the 1940's, 50's and early 60's.   At least 70 percent of paralytic polio survivors and 40 percent of nonparalytic polio survivors are developing Post-Polio Sequelae, unexpected and often disabling symptoms that occur about 35 years after the poliovirus attack, including overwhelming fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain, sleep disorders, heightened sensitivity to anesthesia, cold and pain, and difficulty swallowing and breathing  

Unfortunately, polio survivors and health professionals are not aware that PPS exist and are readily treated by reducing physical overexertion and "conserving to preserve" polio survivors' remaining poliovirus-damaged neurons, and not by exercising and the "use it or lose it" treatment polio survivors received 50 years ago.  Polio survivors and health professionals need to be aware of the cause and treatment of PPS.  

On behalf of our state's thousands of polio survivors and all of our children, I ask that you proclaimed September 2007 POLIO AWARENESS MONTH.  

Yours truly,  

NAME
CITY, STATE