Before the introduction of polio vaccine, the U.S. reported 13,000 to 20,000 cases of paralytic polio each year. Although 95 percent of people infected with poliovirus show no signs of disease, the virus causes permanent paralysis--which can lead to death--in just fewer than 1 percent of cases. Polio incidence peaked in the United States in 1952, but routine vaccination has since eliminated the disease in this country.
History
The U.S. has used various forms of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) since 1955. Other countries where polio is still active use an oral form of the vaccine (OPV), which was discontinued in the U.S. in 2000. The Americas saw their last case of polio associated with wild poliovirus in Peru in 1991, and the Western Hemisphere, European and Western Pacific regions are all now polio-free, thanks to global immunization efforts.
Vaccine Composition
Sanofi Pasteur manufactures the one type of polio vaccine used in the U.S., named IPOL. The vaccine contains all three serotypes of the vaccine virus, which are grown on monkey kidney cells and inactivated with formaldehyde; 2-phenoxyethanol serves as a preservative.
Vaccine Recommendations
Health care providers typically administer polio vaccine to children four times: at ages 2 months, 4 months, 6 to18 months and 4 to 6 years. The vaccine is given either subcutaneously or intramuscularly. Some people should not receive polio vaccine, including those who have had a life-threatening reaction to neomycin, streptomycin or polymyxin B (antiobiotics), and those who have had a serious allergic reaction to a previous polio vaccine.
Adults
Adults will not typically need to receive polio vaccine because they likely already got it in childhood. However, some adults should consider polio vaccination if their lifestyle or occupation places them at higher risk. These adults include travelers to areas of the world where polio is still found, people working in labs who may handle specimens that could contain the virus, and health care workers caring for patients who have polio or were exposed to the disease. In addition, adults who were never vaccinated against polio should receive three doses of vaccine, with the second dose given one to two months after the first, and the third 6 to 12 months after the second.
Just One Plane Trip Away
Even though polio is found in only a few places around the world today, anyone who has not been vaccinated remains susceptible to the disease. Global travel has the potential to reintroduce polio into areas where the disease has been eliminated, and vaccination protects people against potential exposure to the disease.
