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Vaccine description | |
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Target | Poliomyelitis |
Vaccine type | IPV: inactivated OPV: attenuated nOPV2: attenuated, genetically stabilised |
Clinical data | |
Trade names | Ipol, Poliovax, others |
AHFS/Drugs.com | Monograph |
MedlinePlus | a601177 |
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Routes of administration | IPV: parenteral OPV: oral |
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Polio vaccines are vaccines used to prevent poliomyelitis (polio).[2][3] Two types are used: an inactivated poliovirus given by injection (IPV) and a weakened poliovirus given by mouth (OPV).[2] The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all children be fully vaccinated against polio.[2] The two vaccines have eliminated polio from most of the world,[4][5] and reduced the number of cases reported each year from an estimated 350,000 in 1988 to 33 in 2018.[6][7]
The inactivated polio vaccines are very safe.[2] Mild redness or pain may occur at the site of injection.[2] Oral polio vaccines cause about three cases of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis per million doses given.[2] This compares with 5,000 cases per million who are paralysed following a polio infection.[8] Both types of vaccine are generally safe to give during pregnancy and in those who have HIV/AIDS but are otherwise well.[2] However, the emergence of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV), a form of the vaccine virus that has reverted to causing poliomyelitis, has led to the development of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) which aims to make the vaccine safer and thus stop further outbreaks of cVDPV.[9]
The first successful demonstration of a polio vaccine was by Hilary Koprowski in 1950, with a live attenuated virus which people drank.[10] The vaccine was not approved for use in the United States, but was used successfully elsewhere.[10] The success of an inactivated (killed) polio vaccine, developed by Jonas Salk, was announced in 1955.[2][11] Another attenuated live oral polio vaccine was developed by Albert Sabin and came into commercial use in 1961.[2][12]
Polio vaccine is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.[13]