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 U.S. 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 U.S. since 2000, is given as an injection in the leg or arm, depending on 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
- About polio and polio vaccination
[36KB - 1 page] (compliant)
Parent's Guide to Childhood Immunization - 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.
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 remaining countries where polio is endemic. 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 - Vaccine Information Statement (VIS)
- Questions and Answers
- School Vaccine Requirements
- Polio vaccine for travelers who are going to certain countries May 2009
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 [764KB - 14 pages] (compliant)
Epidemiology & Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases textbook - NIPINFO answers your questions about Polio
- Pediarix vaccine: questions and answers
- Ask the Experts
CDC experts answer your clinical questions (Immunization Action Coalition) - Poliovirus in Healthcare Settings
- Proper handling of IPV vaccine
Vaccine Recommendations
- Updated Recommendations of ACIP Regarding Routine Poliovirus Vaccination posted August 2009
- ACIP recommendations
- Contraindications
- ACIP - Vaccines for Children (VFC) Resolution
References and Resources
- Pink Book's chapter on Polio [764KB - 14 pages] (compliant)
Epidemiology & Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases textbook - 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
Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases textbook - Travelers Health: Yellow Book
- Global polio disease and vaccines
- Infection control guidelines
Provider Education
- 2009 Clinical education slide set
[PPT - 538KB] Updated May 2009
from the 11th edition "Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases" course - Podcasts on this topic
Materials for Patients
- Polio timeline
- Vaccine Information Statement (VIS)
- History
of polio
Smithsonian Institute - Stories of people who suffered or died from vaccine-preventable diseases (exit)
- Polio: Questions and Answers [101KB - 3 pages]
Ready-to-print versions of one of the CDC-reviewed Q&A material located on IAC's Vaccine Information website (www.vaccineinformation.org) Dated 4/07 - Poliomielitis - Las vacunas y las enfermedades que previenen (Spanish materials)
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Content last reviewed on April 10, 2007
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases