Vaccines and Preventable Diseases:
Polio Vaccination
Pronounced [PO-lee-oh]
Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus that lives in the throat and intestinal tract. It is most often spread through person-to-person contact with the stool of an infected person and may also be spread through oral/nasal secretions. Polio used to be very common in the United States and caused severe illness in thousands of people each year before polio vaccine was introduced in 1955. Most people infected with the polio virus have no symptoms; however, for the less than 1% who develop paralysis it may result in permanent disability and even death.
There are two types of vaccine that protect against polio: inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and oral polio vaccine (OPV). IPV, used in the United States since 2000, is given as an injection in the leg or arm, depending on patient's age. Polio vaccine may be given at the same time as other vaccines. Most people should get polio vaccine when they are children. Children get 4 doses of IPV, at these ages: 2 months, 4 months, 6-18 months, and booster dose at 4-6 years. OPV has not been used in the United States since 2000 but is still used in many parts of the world.
What You Should Know:
For Health Professionals:
Global Initiatives:
What You Should Know
- Brief description
Symptoms, treatment, transmission, etc. - Questions and Answers
- Polio: Unprotected Story
The true story of how the U.S. came together in an effort to create a vaccine to protect children from polio. - Pictures of Polio
Warning: Some of these photos are quite graphic. - Video
clips of Polio
Warning: Some of these video images are quite graphic. - History of polio
Smithsonian Museum - Travelers information
Information and updates on risks for travelers, precautions, prevention, etc. - Global polio disease
Global eradication, STOP teams, partners, websites, etc. - Polio basics
Fact sheet offers overview of Polio disease and vaccine risks and benefits
A person is considered to be fully immunized if he or she has received a primary series of at least three doses of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV), live oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), or four doses of any combination of IPV and OPV. Until recently, the benefits of OPV use (i.e. intestinal immunity, secondary spread) outweighed the risk for vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) which occurred in one child out of every 2.4 million OPV doses distributed. To eliminate the risk of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP), as of January 1, 2000, OPV was no longer recommended for routine immunization in the United States. However, OPV continues to be used in the countries where polio is endemic or the risk of importation and transmission is high. OPV is recommended for global polio eradication activities in polio-endemic countries due to its advantages over IPV in providing intestinal immunity and providing secondary spread of the vaccine to unprotected contacts.
- Who needs this vaccine and when?
- Side Effects
Excerpt from Vaccine Information Statement - A Polio-Free US Thanks to Vaccine Efforts
The United States has been polio-free since 1979. But poliovirus is still a threat in some countries. - Vaccine Information Statement (VIS)
- Questions and Answers
- School Vaccine Requirements
- Polio vaccine for travelers who are going to certain countries
-
Polio Vaccine Timeline
Source: History of Vaccines
- Debunked: The Polio Vaccine and HIV Link
Source: History of Vaccines
As with all vaccines, there can be minor reactions, including pain and redness at the injection site, headache, fatigue or a vague feeling of discomfort.
- CDC's Vaccine Safety website
- Are vaccines safe?
FAQs on The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia website - Lessening the Pain of Vaccines
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- What if we stopped vaccinating for this disease?
- Who should not be vaccinated with Polio vaccine?
- Pregnancy guidelines
For Health Professionals
Clinical Information on Polio
- Pink Book's chapter on Polio (Updated April 2011)
Epidemiology & Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, 12th Edition - Pediarix vaccine: questions and answers
- Ask the Experts
CDC experts answer your clinical questions (Immunization Action Coalition) - Poliovirus in Healthcare Settings
- Proper storage and handling of vaccines Updated Sept 2011
CDC Vaccine Storage and Handling guide includes shelf life, reconstitution instructions...
Vaccine Recommendations
- ACIP recommendations Updated August 2009
- Contraindications
- Package inserts (IPOL, Kinrix, Pediarix, Pentacel, and more package inserts...) Posted Feb 2010
- ACIP - Vaccines for Children (VFC) Resolution
References and Resources
- Pink Book's chapter on Polio [PDF-557KB, 14 pages] Updated April 2011
Epidemiology & Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, 12th Edition - Vaccines, 5th Edition
(1748 pages, $325.00, 2008©) By Stanley A. Plotkin, MD, Walter A. Orenstein, MD and Paul A. Offit, MD - Surveillance manual's chapter on Polio
The chapter on polio is currently under revision. - Travelers Health: Yellow Book
- Global polio disease and vaccines
- Infection control guidelines
Provider Education
Materials for Patients
- Vaccine Information Statement (VIS)
- History
of polio
Smithsonian Institute - Stories of people who suffered or died from vaccine-preventable diseases
- Polio: Questions and Answers [PDF-101KB, 3 pages]
Ready-to-print versions of one of the CDC-reviewed Q&A material located on IAC's Vaccine Information website (http://www.vaccineinformation.org) Dated 4/07 - Poliomielitis - Las vacunas y las enfermedades que previenen (Spanish materials)
Global Initiatives
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Content last reviewed on February 23, 2011
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases