Do the benefits of the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) outweigh its risks?
Natural polio has been eliminated from the United States since 1979. However, polio has not been eliminated from the rest of the world. Efforts to eradicate polio have proven challenging. In 2007, polio still occurred in a dozen countries. Since travel makes the world a much smaller place, a recurrence of polio is merely a plane ride away. For example, polio virus was recently brought into a Canadian province by a child traveling back from India. Because Canada has a high rate of immunization against polio, no one caught polio from this child, but the potential was there. Because IPV has no serious side effects, the benefits of the vaccine clearly outweigh its risks. Reviewed by: Paul A.
Natural polio has been eliminated from the United States since 1979. However, polio has not been eliminated from the rest of the world. Efforts to eradicate polio have proven challenging. In 2009, polio still occurred in more than 25 countries. Polio has never been successfully eliminated from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan, and in 2010, Tajikistan, a country previously declared polio-free, had a re-emergence. Since travel makes the world a much smaller place, a recurrence of polio is merely a plane ride away. For example, polio virus was recently brought into a Canadian province by a child traveling back from India. Because Canada has a high rate of immunization against polio, no one caught polio from this child, but the potential was there. Because IPV has no serious side effects, the benefits of the vaccine clearly outweigh its risks. Reviewed by: Paul A.
