It’s time to march against polio once again

Poliomyelitis is a crippling and sometimes deadly disease. Recently there was news that the polio virus had been recovered in sewage in London. Now the case of an unvaccinated young New York adult paralyzed with polio has been reported.

The young man appears to have been infected by a vaccinederived strain of the virus. Vaccine-derived polio vaccine outbreaks occur where vaccine coverage is low.

To understand how this happens, one needs to know the difference between the oral (Sabin) form of the polio vaccine which is given as drops or on a sugar cube, and the injectable (Salk) inactivated, killed vaccine.

Oral polio vaccination has not been used in the United States since 2000. However, it continues to be used in many parts of the world. The Sabin vaccine contains attenuated live virus and can rarely lead to vaccine-associated polio and circulating vaccine-derived polio cases. The World Health Organization has organized an initiative to discontinue use of the oral polio vaccine.

The Salk vaccine is developed from a killed virus and does not lead to vaccine-associated infection. Two doses of inactivated polio vaccine give 90% immunity to all three types of polio viruses. A series of three doses provide at least 99% immunity.

During COVID-19, vaccination rates in children have declined. To eradicate polio, we must again march against polio. The usual polio vaccination schedule is one dose at ages two months, four months, six to 18 months, and a booster dose at age four to six years.

— Marny Eulberg, MD,

Wheat Ridge