Polio (IPV) Vaccine

What is Polio?

Dr. Brian Thornburg would refer to polio as an “asteroid disease” (they have hit the earth in the past, but we don’t look up in the sky waiting for one to hit again). Polio is extremely rare, but in the one in a million chance, it could be devastating. 

Polio is a virus that is transmitted like the common cold or intestinal flu. Many times people will show symptoms of a sore throat and fever, and the virus will pass without them even knowing it was polio. 

However, severe cases invade the nervous system and cause muscle weakness, meningitis, and paralysis - which can be fatal.

Is Polio Common?

No. Polio is considered eradicated in the United States. 

• Most people who are infected with poliovirus will not have any symptoms

• About 1 out of 4 people will have flu-like symptoms

• About 1-5 out of 100 people contract meningitis 

• About 1 out of 200 people to 1 in 2,000 people develop paralysis 

• Between 2-10 out of 100 people who have paralysis die due to the virus effecting the muscles that help them breathe 

• Source: CDC (cdc.gov/polio/about/index.html)

The last confirmed case of polio was in 2022 found in an unvaccinated man in Rockland County, NY, and in several surrounding waste water samples.

Why Some get the Vax

Universal vaccination against polio has eliminated this disease from North America, Europe, and South America. Until polio is eradicated from the world, there is always the possibility that polio could enter our country again - like it has in parts of Asia. It can have devastating consequences.

Why Some Don't Get the Vax

The ingredients in the polio vaccine include monkey kidney cells, cow serum, and human blood protein, which makes some parents uncomfortable. And since polio doesn’t exist in the US, some parents feel comfortable skipping this vaccine. 

Other parents choose to delay the vaccine until their child is in school (or has increased exposure in other ways).