Questions about polio vax from decades ago

[EviesMom]

My mother very recently passed away from complications of post polio syndrome. She was only 58, born in 1952.

Her parents and family have always said that they believed that she caught polio from a "bad dose" of the vaccine. The rest of the story I have tried to piece together from small things heard over the years. As I recall, they said no one else in their county had polio within the same year she got it. My grandfather said "One week she got the vaccine and weeks later, I had to help her off the school bus because she couldn't walk down the steps on her own." I don't remember how old she was when she caught it, elementary school I believe.

So, would this have been the OPV? Do the bits and pieces I remember sound correct for the time or how this would happen? Please be polite, I have just lost my mother and I am not promoting vax nor no-vax.

[Bokonon]

I am so, so sorry for your loss.

[heathergirl67]

You might be interested in looking up "the Cutter Incident." In the spring of 1955 a bad batch of polio vaccine was administered to (I think) 40,000 people. The vaccine's polio virus was live- not properly inactivated. Most were fine but dozens were paralyzed and about 10 people died. Cutter Labs had to pay out in a lawsuit because they released the bad batch, ignoring warnings from some of their scientists. I believe that most of those who recieved the vaccine were in Idaho and California.

Do you know at what age your mom recieved that vaccine? If she recieved it at about 3 years old, then it seems like it could very well be that she was one of the victims. But since your grandfather mentioned her showing signs when she was stepping off of the schoolbus, it seems a little doubtful. I believe that the bad batch was immediately destroyed and stopped being administered by the fall of 1955. Either way, I'm so so sorry for your loss. I pray that she's at peace now.

[Angela512]

OP, I have no information for you, but I'm very sorry for your loss!

[EviesMom]

Originally Posted by heathergirl67

You might be interested in looking up "the Cutter Incident." In the spring of 1955 a bad batch of polio vaccine was administered to (I think) 40,000 people. The vaccine's polio virus was live- not properly inactivated. Most were fine but dozens were paralyzed and about 10 people died. Cutter Labs had to pay out in a lawsuit because they released the bad batch, ignoring warnings from some of their scientists. I believe that most of those who recieved the vaccine were in Idaho and California.

Do you know at what age your mom recieved that vaccine? If she recieved it at about 3 years old, then it seems like it could very well be that she was one of the victims. But since your grandfather mentioned her showing signs when she was stepping off of the schoolbus, it seems a little doubtful. I believe that the bad batch was immediately destroyed and stopped being administered by the fall of 1955. Either way, I'm so so sorry for your loss. I pray that she's at peace now.

It would have to be later than that. She was in a relatively rural area in upstate NY. I seem to think that a lot of the kids in her school were vaxed at the same time because they had just gotten the vaccine back in stock or something like that. Was there a booster given at 4-6 as there is now? It could have been at 6. But it sounds like a "bad dose" is the kind of thing that happens in groups of people in an area whereas she was the only one as I've heard it.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Was it possible to have a bad reaction to the vax which caused similar symptoms to the disease itself? My MIL had a cousin up in Messina who had Polio around the same time I am guessing. Don't know any of the details (like whether he had been vaxed or not).

I am so sorry for the loss of your Mother. Peace to you.

[xmasbaby7]

I am so sorry for your loss.

[nia82]

I am so sorry for you loss.
The OPV was used back then and definetely could have caused her to actually catch it and pass it to other non-immune individuals. It's one of the reasons OPV is no longer used in the industrialized world, but still being used in poor countries (despite the fact that even highly vaccinated kids in India catch polio, there seems to be a strain not covered by it). If you google a little bit more about it, you will find tons of information that is quite scary.
On a personal note, I remember geting OPV in kindergarten, my parents had no choice (communist country, mandatory vaccinations) and they were dead sick and worried that I will get polio from it. It was known that it came along with lots of complications and risks, even without the internet or even phones back then.

[Monarchgrrl]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I worry about this a lot. My dad was also born in 1952 and received the vax at age 3 (1955) and got polio from the vax. He has PPS. The disease affected his bones and I can't even describe the hell his physical life has been and still is. I can't answer your question but I wanted you to know that I'm sorry and I'll light a candle for your mother.

[ema-adama]

OP - I am so sorry for your loss.

I think it unlikely that it was the OPV, as this was only available in the USA in the early 1960's. It was the IPV that was used in the 1950's.

It is also better understood now how polio could be provoked in recipients of injections.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...8/?tool=pubmed

There are many factors involved when it comes to who developed paralytic polio in association with the injected polio vaccine, if that is indeed what happened to your mother.

[Marnica]

So sorry about your mom OP

Depending on how old your mother was:
The first polio vaccine was licensed in 1955 (The Salk Vaccine) This was NOT live.

The Sabin oral vaccine was licensed in 1962.

Both were known to CAUSE polio. When Salk vaccine came out in 1955, the number of reported polio cases practically doubled in several US states.

[SilverMoon010]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your mother. She was so very young.

It's extremely possible that she caught polio from the vaccine. My mom is about the same age as your mom (she's 60), and she remembers when she was young, a friend of hers caught polio from the vaccine. (This was in PA). She had to be put in a wheelchair the rest of her life from it because she could no longer walk. She was a healthy child up until that point when she got that vaccine. It's very sad.

I don't have the details off hand about how old she was at the time, but if you want me to find out, I can always ask my mom.