Some polio questions...

[bluedaisy]

We'll be traveling to kenya for 3 months this summer and are trying to decide which vaxes, is any, to get our dd who will be 18 months when we travel.

she is currently unvaxed.

there is an outbreak of wild polio in the northern part of kenya with 17 confirmed cases in 2009.

this is not the area where we will be, however my husband will be traveling there several times for his job. he has been vaccinated for polio. is there any chance our dd could catch it from him if he is exposed?

i've heard 90-95% of polio cases are asymptomatic. does anyone know what causes paralysis in a small number of cases?

they use OPV in Kenya, so if there were to be an outbreak in nairobi where we will be, our only option for a vaccine would be the OPV (live virus). if we do get her vaccinated, i would much rather have her get the IPV (inactivated virus).

How reactive is the IPV? I've heard it's one of the vaxes with fewer side effects.

What would you do?

[bluedaisy]

anyone?

[MeepyCat]

I would get the baby the inactivated polio vaccine before traveling anywhere in Africa, but I would get my kids that vaccine anyway.

[miriam]

Yellow fever vaccine is required for all travelers to East Africa as is TIG. Take care.

www.who.int/

[Deborah]

no reported cases of yellow fever in Kenya
http://www.who.int/immunization_moni...cidenceyfe.htm

[Deborah]

what makes polio invade the nervous system?

One doctor theorized that it was fluctuating blood sugar--Dr. Sandler? something like that. He wrote a book about it which my father had and used as a basis for not getting us the vaccine for polio when it came out.

Anyway, the theory was that children were particularly prone to drinking sugary drinks or eating sweets like ice cream in the summer, they would also tend to exercise vigorously and as a result their blood sugar would go very high and then extremely low. He thought this created a vulnerability to the polio virus, making it harder to cope with. As I recall the story, he tried his theory out in a single county in a southern state, telling parents to be very careful about sweets, suggesting foods that would provide extended energy rather than stuff that gives a short burst and then a plunge. The result was no polio that summer in that county. But it is many years since I read the book, so I could have some of the facts wrong.

The other theory (I think they work together, actually) is that there were environmental toxins that allowed polio to become invasive. The 1940s and 1950s were the highwater mark of careless and unregulated use of very dangerous agricultural chemicals. I guess the theory here is that these chemicals would cause damage to the nervous system, aiding the virus to go where it normally would not go.

The idea is that all polio is "provoked" in some way.

The final one, and this is not a theory, is that injections themselves can cause polio. This was well-known and it was called provacation polio. It usually appeared in the limb which received the injection and caused a local paralysis. There were actually doctors who wouldn't give vaccinations in the summer for this reason. Apparently the virus would be pushed through the skin by needle and if the needle touched any nerves (hard to avoid) the virus would gain access.

I'm not sure if I would get a polio vaccine under those circumstances or not.

On the one hand, the IPV seems to be a fairly mild vaccine which doesn't cause a lot of problems, on the other hand I'm very doubtful about the safety of vaccines, period. And the efficacy, too, for that matter.

Not much help, sorry!

[ammiga]

I don't have all of the answers to your questions, but as a family that does not vaccinate our 25 month old dd, we would not vax dd in this situation. Dd bfed for 25 months (just weaned), eats an incredibly healthy diet, and I believe in the strength of her immune system. I feel that introducing the toxins in vaccines would only serve to compromise the strength of her immune system.

If I remember correctly, polio is spread through the fecal-oral route, so like always, we would just practice good hygiene, wash our hand regularly, drink clean water, eat clean and healthy foods, and have faith in our bodies.

[miriam]

Originally Posted by Deborah

no reported cases of yellow fever in Kenya
http://www.who.int/immunization_moni...cidenceyfe.htm

See how well the vaccine works!

Dr. Benjamin P. Sandler is on a website that cannot be typed here, and he worked in Asheville, NC in 1946.