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Polio Immunization There
are two types of polio vaccine: Inactivated (killed) polio vaccine (IPV),
which is a shot; and live oral polio vaccine (OPV), which is a liquid
that is swallowed. CDC
recommends only IPV, except in very limited circumstances. Children
should get 4 doses of IPV at these ages:
What
happened to Oral Polio Vaccine? Most
of you probably remember getting the oral polio vaccine, and may even
have gotten it for your older children quite recently. OPV
is an excellent vaccine. Without it we could not have eliminated polio
from the western hemisphere, and would not be so close to eliminating
it from the rest of the world. Until recently, OPV was recommended for
most children in the U.S. But
OPV can also, in some situations, actually cause polio. This is rare,
about once in every 2.4 million doses. When the vaccine was preventing
thousands of cases of polio a year, having it occasionally cause a case
was a small price to pay. But now that the risk of getting polio is extremely
low, and because IPV is available, experts have decided that routinely
using the oral vaccine in the U.S. is no longer worth the small risk.
OPV is still used in parts of the world where the risk of polio disease
is much higher. Four doses of polio vaccine will protect most children for life. However for certain people, for instance, those traveling to countries where polio is still common, a booster dose is recommended. U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES |