Health Care — New York declares emergency over polio

Dogs…most of the time they serve as our lovable companions, but they can misbehave from time to time. Though perhaps not as badly as this pooch who wielded a knife at his dog walker. 

Today in health, a disaster was declared in New York due to the detection of polio in the state’s wastewater, bolstering ongoing vaccination efforts. 

Welcome to Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. For The Hill, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Hochul declares polio emergency in NY

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) declared a “disaster” in the state on Friday due to the spread of polio through wastewater. 

The emergency declaration allows a larger group of medical personnel to administer polio vaccines and requires providers to send immunization data to the New York State Department of Health. 

• “On polio, we simply cannot roll the dice,” State Health Commissioner Mary
  T. Bassett said in response to Hochul’s order. 
• She continued: “If you or your child are unvaccinated or not up to date with vaccinations, the risk of paralytic disease is real. … Polio immunization is safe and effective — protecting nearly all people against disease who receive the recommended doses.” 

Vaccine boost: The state’s polio immunization drive will be bolstered by the New York State Immunization Information System, which will collect data on which communities need access to vaccines the most. 

The vaccination rate against polio among 2-year-old children in New York is
79 percent and “significantly less than that in several counties and zip codes,” according to the governor’s office. 

Polio vaccines will now be able to be distributed by first responders, midwives and pharmacists. 

Read more here. 

NIH launches trial testing efficacy of monkeypox drug

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is launching a Phase 3 clinical trial to determine the efficacy of tecovirimat — the smallpox antiviral better known as TPOXX — for use in treating monkeypox, as current data on its effectiveness against the virus is limited. 

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is sponsoring the trial, which is being led by the organization’s AIDS Clinical Trials Group. The study is currently enrolling adults and children who have been infected with monkeypox in the U.S. 

Off-label use: TPOXX was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2018 to treat smallpox. It was authorized for use in treating monkeypox in August based on studies treating orthopoxviruses, the family of viruses that both monkeypox and smallpox fall under. 

TPOXX has not been approved for use in monkeypox but has been designated…