Polio (Poliomyelitis) disease | Polio vaccine | OPV & IPV.

Polio (Poliomyelitis) Disease
Polio is a disease that causes permanent paralysis. We can’t cure it, but we can prevent it.

The development of effective vaccines to prevent polio has been one of the major medical breakthroughs of the 20th century.

Polio Vaccines
Two important tools help to prevent poliovirus – two safe, effective polio vaccines.

One of these polio vaccines is given with just two drops into the mouth of a child. This is called the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV).

See the video to learn more about the two polio vaccines:

The other is given with an injection. This is called the Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine (IPV).

They both teach children’s bodies how to fight off poliovirus, but they do this in different ways.

The oral polio vaccine builds protection in the child’s intestine. This vaccine not only protects the child who receives it, but also protects others around the polio vaccinated child.

Several doses of the oral polio vaccine
Several doses of the oral polio vaccine should be given to every single child in places where poliovirus is a threat.

The injectable polio vaccine builds protection in the blood instead of the gut. It helps to boost immunity and keeps countries free from polio, but it doesn’t stop polio spreading through children, so it is not as useful in places where virus is still circulative.Several doses of the oral polio vaccine

We need the oral vaccine to stop the virus wherever it is found. Once polio have been stopped everywhere the inactivated poliovirus vaccine will be used on its own to keep populations protected.

Both of these polio vaccines have been approved as safe and effective by the World Health Organization to do the job properly. They need to be given to all children no matter where they live.

Thanks to these OPV,IPV polio vaccines, cases of polio have fallen by over 99 percent around the world.