Polio

Polio is a viral disease that in some children can lead to flaccid paralysis. Transmission through person to person contact and contact with infected feces makes the virus highly contagious. Dr. Jonas Salk created the first polio vaccine using the Mahoney strain of the virus. Since the first vaccine in 1955 there have been updates. In 1961 the monovalent OPV1 and 2 vaccines were used. In 1962 the monovalent OPV 3 was release, then in 1963 the trivalent OPV was released which contained OPV 1,2, and 3. The current inactivated vaccine IPOL and Sanofi Pasteur, contain all three serotypes of polio. The strains were grown in monkey kidney tissue cultures. The immunity given by this vaccine is 90% or more effective after two doses, though the duration of the immunity cannot be determined with certainty. There is also an oral live attenuated polio vaccine also known as the trivalent OPV, it is not available in the U.S.A due to that the virus can shed in stool for up to six weeks after vaccination. This vaccine is 50% effective after the first dose, and 95% effective after three doses, it is also suspected to give life long immunity.2

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Humans are the only reservoir for the polio virus so eradication of the disease is possible. The last case of polio in the U.S.A was reported in 1979. The world health organization, in 1988 made a goal of global polio eradication by 2000 but was unsuccessful in that endeavor. There is more than $600 million dollars in the polio eradication fund. In 1994, the western hemisphere was announced to be polio free. Type 2 polio was last seen in India in 1999 but has not been seen since. In 2012, there were only 223 cases of polio reported globally which is an almost 99% decrease.2

If the united states stopped vaccinating against polio, the population currently within America would have no risk of contracting polio as it has been eradicated from the U.S.A. The polio virus is still infecting others around the world, someone with polio happened to travel to America it would put everyone at risk of getting the disease.2

1Kurlander, C. (2020, April 9). The deadly polio epidemic and why it matters for coronavirus. Retrieved April 30, 2020, from https://theconversation.com/the-deadly-polio-epidemic-and-why-it-matters-for-coronavirus-133976

–2Wellace, G., & Alexander, J. (2015). Cdc Pinkbook-Polio (13th ed.). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/polio.pdf