What is Polio
How to prevent Polio
Who should get a Polio vaccine
When to get a Polio vaccine
 What is Polio
Polio is a disease caused by a virus. It enters an adult's body through the mouth. Sometimes it causes
paralysis (can't move arm or leg). It can kill people who get it, usually by paralyzing the muscles
that help them breathe.
Polio used to be very common in the United States. It paralyzed and killed thousands of people a year before we
had a vaccine for it.
How to prevent Polio
Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) can prevent polio. IPV is a shot, given in the leg or arm, depending on age. Polio vaccine
may be given at the same time as other vaccines.
History: A 1916 polio epidemic in the United States killed 6,000 people and paralyzed 27,000 more.
In the early 1950's there were more than 20,000 cases of polio each year. Polio vaccination was begun
in 1955. By 1960 the number of cases had dropped to about 3,000, and by 1979 there were only about 10.
The success of polio vaccination in the U.S. and other countries sparked a world-wide effort to eliminate polio.
Today: No wild polio has
been reported in the United States for over 20 years.
But the disease is still common in some parts of the world.
It would only take one case of polio from another country
to bring the disease back if we were not protected by
vaccine. If the effort to eliminate the disease from the
world is successful, some day we won't need polio vaccine.
Until then, we need to keep getting our children vaccinated.
Who should get a Polio vaccine
Most people should get polio vaccine when they are children. Most adults do not need polio vaccine because
they were already vaccinated as children. But three groups of adults are at higher risk and should consider
polio vaccination:
- People traveling to areas of the world where polio is common
- Laboratory workers who might handle polio virus
- Healthcare workers treating patients who could have polio
When to get a Polio vaccine
Children get 4 doses of IPV, at these ages:
- A dose at 2 months
- A dose at 4 months
- A dose at 6-18 months
- A booster dose at 4-6 years
Adults in the above three groups, traveling to high risk areas, who have never been vaccinated against polio should get 3 doses of IPV:
- The first dose at any time
- The second dose 1 to 2 months later
- The third dose 6 to 12 months after the second
Adults in these three groups who have had 1 or 2 doses of polio vaccine in the past should get the remaining 1 or 2
doses. It doesn't matter how long it has been since the earlier dose(s).
Adults in these three groups who have had 3 or more doses of polio vaccine (either IPV or OPV) in the past may
get a booster dose of IPV.
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