MedlinePlus Drug Information: Polio Vaccine

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Other drug names:	A-Am An-Az B C-Ch Ci-Cz D-Dh Di-Dz E F G H I-J K-L M-Mh Mi-Mz N-Nh Ni-Nz O P-Pl Pm-Pz Q-R S-Sn So-Sz T-To Tp-Tz U-V W-Z 0-9

Polio Vaccine

Disease

Polio is a serious disease. It spreads when germs pass from an infected person to the mouths of others. Polio can paralyze a person (make arms and legs unable to move) and cause death. There is no cure for polio.

Vaccines

Benefits. Vaccination is the best way to protect against polio. Because most children get the polio vaccines, there are now very few cases of this disease. Before most children were vaccinated, there were thousands of cases of polio.

There are two kinds of polio vaccines:

Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) is the one most often given to children. It is easily given by mouth as drops and works well to stop the spread of polio. Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) is given as a shot in the leg or arm.

OPV Schedule. Most children should have a total of four OPV vaccinations. They should have OPV at:

2 months of age
4 months of age
12-18 months of age
4-6 years of age

Other vaccines may be given at the same time as OPV.

IPV Schedule. Most children should have a total of four IPV vaccinations. They should have IPV at:

2 months of age
4 months of age
12-18 months of age
4-6 years of age

Who should get vaccinated?

Most doctors recommend that almost all young children get OPV. But there are some cautions. Tell your doctor or nurse if the person getting the vaccine or anyone else in close contact with the person getting the vaccine is not able to fight serious infections because of:

a disease she/he was born with.
treatment with drugs such as long-term steroids.
cancer treatment with radiation or drugs.
AIDS or HIV infection.

If any of these conditions are present, your doctor or nurse will probably give IPV instead of OPV.

Tell your doctor if the person getting either vaccine has a moderate or severe illness.

Also, it is important to remember that:

if you are older than age 18 years, you usually do not need polio vaccine.
if you are traveling in a country where there is polio, you should get either OPV or IPV.
if protection is needed during pregnancy, OPV or IPV can be used.
you should tell the doctor if the person getting the vaccine has an allergy to the drugs neomycin, streptomycin, or polymyxin B. If so, the person should get OPV, not IPV. Ask your doctor or nurse if you are not sure.
you should tell your doctor or nurse if the person getting the vaccine has ever had a serious allergic reaction or other problem after getting polio vaccine.

Risks

As with any medicine, there are very small risks. Serious problems, even death, could occur after getting the vaccine. However, the risks from the vaccine are much smaller than the risks from the disease. Almost all people who get polio vaccine have no problems from it.

Risks from OPV. There are some risks to the person taking OPV.

There is a very small chance of getting polio disease from the vaccine:

about 1 case occurs for every 1.5 million first doses
about 1 case occurs for every 30 million later doses

Some risks exist for people who never took polio vaccine but who have close contact with the person taking OPV. After a person gets OPV, it can be found in his or her mouth and stool. If you never took polio vaccine, there is a very small chance of getting polio disease from close contact (changing diapers or kissing) with a child who got OPV in the past 30 days:

about 1 case occurs in every 2 million first doses
about 1 case occurs for every 15 million later doses

Talk to your doctor or nurse about getting IPV.

The IPV vaccine is not known to cause any problems except mild soreness where the shot is given.

What should I do in case of OVERDOSE?

In case of overdose, call your local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. If the victim has collapsed or is not breathing, call local emergency services at 911.

In case of a serious reaction

Call your doctor or get the person to a doctor right away.
Write down what happened and the date and time it happened.
Ask your doctor, nurse, or health care provider to file a Vaccine Adverse Event Report form or call the following toll-free number: (800) 822-7967.

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program gives compensation (payment) to persons thought to be injured by vaccines. For details, call the following toll-free number: (800) 338-2382.

If you want to learn more about vaccines, ask your doctor, nurse, or health care provider for the vaccine package insert or other sources of information. You can also visit the CDC web site at http://www.cdc.gov/nip.

Adapted and reprinted with permission, U.S. Government Printing Office: 1994-582-420/20029 (DPT), 1994 - 582-417/20026 (MMR), and 1994 - 582-418/20027 (Polio). U.S. Department of Health Human Services. Public Health Service. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 6/10/94.

Last Revised - 01/01/2003

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. Disclaimer