Polio Vaccination
Immunization to polio with (IPV)
Polio is caused by a very infectious enterovirus, which primarily affects young children and is spread through direct person-to-person contact, with infected mucus, phlegm, feces, or by contact with food and water contaminated by feces of another infected individual. The virus multiplies in the gastrointestinal tract where it can also invade the nervous system, causing permanent neurological damage in some individuals. There is no cure for polio, so prevention is very important.
Vaccination against polio
The vaccine used today is called IPV (Inactivated Polio Vaccine) because it contains non-living strains of the virus. It is administered through injections. The polio vaccine schedule for children includes a shot at 2 months of age, 4 months, and 6 to 18 months of age, and a fourth one between 4 and 6 years of age. The fourth dose isn't needed if the third dose is administered after the age of 4.
Due to vaccination programs, there have been very few cases of polio in the western hemisphere since the 1970s although, globally, polio remains a fairly common disease, especially in developing countries.
How polio is spread
Polio is spread in an "oral-fecal" manner. Person-to-person infection occurs by contact with infected mucus, phlegm, feces, or by contact with food and water contaminated by feces of another infected individual.
