I am anti-vax(mostly) but have a question about polio

[zachattack]

My 7 month old son has only received 1 vax so far and we are going to 'very selectively' vax. As an aside I believe vaccines have destroyed so many lives and the minds of a generation.
Ok- the one thing I don't get about the polio vax is this....they say that polio only went down in the US bec. of cleaner water etc. I agree with this to a certain extent.
However, is it true that polio has gone down in 3rd world countries that do not haev clean water. India -for example as well as counties in Africa. I know that there is still polio in some of these countries but no at a high rate.
I am confused....if the polio vax doesn't work, why is the polio rate in 3rd world counties that have unsanitary living conditions much lower than years ago?

[Deborah]

Actually, the argument about polio is that increased sanitation is the problem, not cleaner water.

Polio is really, really complicated and I don't have time to explain the whole story. I suggest you find a basic article about polio epidemiology, perhaps an encyclopedia, and get some idea of how the commonly accepted version runs, then come back and some of us can try to explain some of the alternative reasoning.

[mamadelbosque]

The deal with polio is that in this country at least, we just changed the definition of polio. THATS why it dissapeared as much as anything else. As a result, the disease itself hasn't gone away. We just changed the definition and much of what was formerly called polio we started calling viral/aseptic meningitius (and of course, now theres a vax for meningitus too! Maybe in a few more years we'll decide to change the definition of meningitus so *that* vax can work and it can magically disapear, only to reappear as something else...).

[member234098]

You mention two areas of the world in which polio is still a problem...Africa and India.

These areas are being given the OPV, the live oral vaccine. Any cases in the Western Hemisphere since 1979 are connected to the OPV. The only way to get polio in the Western Hemisphere since 1979 is to get the vaccine or stand next to a child who just received the vaccine.

Edited to add that there is a new strain of polio in Nigeria that is different than the virus that the vaccine is for. This is being blamed on the people who refuse vaccines in Nigeria. Just to let you know that there is more to a story than meets the eye.

[buttercupmama]

I grew up in my mother's birth country which happens to be a 3rd world country. The water was so brown sometimes, it looked like diluted mud. Meanwhile, there were maybe 2 vaccines routinely administered there. The polio vaccine was never even offered when I was a child--I don't know if it is offered now. The only person I ever knew of having polio there was an older relative who is now about 80 years old. He had about 6 siblings who didn't show any signs of it, so either they were lucky not to develop muscoskeletal problems or they didn't catch it at all from him.

But keep in mind there was always a plentiful of sunshine and everyone there ate fruits in abundance, especially citrus, so I'm sure those helped greatly to keep everyone healthy.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by zachattack

My 7 month old son has only received 1 vax so far and we are going to 'very selectively' vax. As an aside I believe vaccines have destroyed so many lives and the minds of a generation.
Ok- the one thing I don't get about the polio vax is this....they say that polio only went down in the US bec. of cleaner water etc. I agree with this to a certain extent.
However, is it true that polio has gone down in 3rd world countries that do not haev clean water. India -for example as well as counties in Africa. I know that there is still polio in some of these countries but no at a high rate.
I am confused....if the polio vax doesn't work, why is the polio rate in 3rd world counties that have unsanitary living conditions much lower than years ago?

Please read these books
http://www.amazon.com/Virus-Vaccine-.../dp/0312278721

http://www.fearoftheinvisible.com/ (there is a chapter in this one on polio)