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The disease causes paralysis and especially affected children when it was at its most damaging, mainly from 1948-1955 according to mayoclinic.org.

Fortunately, Dr. Jonas Salk and his colleagues developed the vaccine against polio and it put the disease in check, saving countless lives from pain and even death.

Well, it appears the contagious disease is back. Polio has been detected in New York City's wastewater, according to the Washington Post. Six positive samples were detected in June and July.

What are the symptoms of polio? According to the CDC, symptoms include:

  • Sore throat
  • Fever
  • Tiredness
  • Nausea
  • Headache
  • Stomach pain
(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)
(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)
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These symptoms may go away after 2-5 days but polio can develop into paralysis and meningitis. Or you may be asymptomatic and spread it to someone who the disease can horribly affect.

Sound familiar? That has also been the case with COVID-19?

CVS Administers Vaccines For Upcoming Flu Season
Joe Raedle, Getty Images
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So, are you vaccinated against polio? Fortunately, an incredibly high percentage of Louisiana children are. According to figures published by Louisiana Radio Network, "the polio vaccination rate for children entering kindergarten in Louisiana last fall was 98.6%, that’s higher than the national average of 93.9%."

It’s a routine vaccination for children but if you’re an adult and you haven’t been vaccinated, reach out to your healthcare provider to get vaccinated,” said LSU Health New Orleans infectious disease specialist Dr. Fred Lopez to LRN. (The) report from New York showing someone who developed polio infection, and who is the person most likely to polio, is the person who’s not been vaccinated.”

It's a great idea to check your immunization status to make sure you are vaccinated against polio, especially as the possibility of the neurological diseases spreading in some communities is out there.

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

LOOK: The states with the most UFO sightings

For each state, we’ve also included details of famous UFO sightings in that state. Of note is that almost three-quarters of all UFO sighting reports in the United States occur between 4 p.m. and midnight, and tend to peak between 9 and 10 p.m. Food for thought next time you're out scoping for alien life. Keep reading to see which states have had the most UFO sightings.

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