Polio- why would this be a docs #1 concern?

[jessjgh1]

I was talking to a dr about vaxes and he mentioned (for the 2nd time) that if he would recommend one vaccine it would be polio.

I believe his rationale is that it is a single- killed vax, thus less of a reaction risk, but I was surprised because I feel like the risk of getting polio is pretty low to just not happening.  Maybe he thinks that I'm just wary about vaxes because of reactions?

If polio starts a comeback in the US, I realize, technically I suppose we could be really unlucky and be at the center of the comeback and be the first to 'catch' it in our family- but that scenario is HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY unlikely, especially since we don't' really have a lot of exposure to people that are globe trotting, for one example.  If polio starts a comeback it would probably be something that was caught by the CDC tracking and I feel like we would have some time to make a decision about vaxing.

What am I missing?? 

Every so often Polio comes up and people often really freak out about it.  After learning about polio and how 'successful' the vaccine was it seemed clear that a lot of people feel like we have wiped it out in the US and the only danger is from people bringing it to the US- which should be fairly well controlled by our border laws/travel requirements.  But then, on the other hand, people seem to have a very strong feeling that everyone being vaxed is a necessity to keep it in control.  Those 2 sides just don't make sense.

Another question, do we even know if the adults in the population are actually still immune to polio from their vaxes?

One of our last doctor seemed to agree that he didn't feel like Polio was a high risk, unless we were traveling.

I remember quipping-- 'I wonder if they would consider removing it from the schedule, tracking it (as the already do) and adding it to travel guidelines- it could always go back on the schedule if there was a threat of recurrence??' and he didn't really seem horrified by that idea.  Maybe he was just being polite.

Again, just wondering what I am missing. 

Jessica

[littlec]

I don't know why that would be a major concern of his either. According to the CDC, less than 1% of people who contract polio suffer any type of paralysis, and of those, most make a complete recovery. (it's all in the polio "pink book" on the cdc page).

[carriebft]

The only angle I can see on this is that polio has been traveling to previously polio free countries in recent years due to low vaccination rates, clusting of the unvaccinated, and immigration/travel. But the closest this got to "us" (ie, USA) is Russia. They suspected some cases in Haiti but I believe those were ruled out last week sometime.

[Crafty]

Originally Posted by littlec 

I don't know why that would be a major concern of his either. According to the CDC, less than 1% of people who contract polio suffer any type of paralysis, and of those, most make a complete recovery. (it's all in the polio "pink book" on the cdc page).

Post polio syndrome is still a HUGE problem for those who suffered from polio, though. And less than 1% is a fine statistic to cite, but if you speak to people who lived through the polio epidemics, most know people who lost family members and friends to the disease, and most remember kids in braces and walking with crutches in their schools. I'm only 30 and had a boss who had a polio leg. Polio wasn't just this little thing that a handful of people got. 

[Emmeline II]

My mother had polio in the early 40s (I'm 34, btw), started dealing with PPS in her late 60s; my mom was the only person in her family to contract polio. It hasn't changed my decision about not vaccinating for polio. Also, now we know more about what makes people vulnerable to complications, and treatment.

[littlec]

Originally Posted by Crafty 

Originally Posted by littlec 

I don't know why that would be a major concern of his either. According to the CDC, less than 1% of people who contract polio suffer any type of paralysis, and of those, most make a complete recovery. (it's all in the polio "pink book" on the cdc page).

Post polio syndrome is still a HUGE problem for those who suffered from polio, though. And less than 1% is a fine statistic to cite, but if you speak to people who lived through the polio epidemics, most know people who lost family members and friends to the disease, and most remember kids in braces and walking with crutches in their schools. I'm only 30 and had a boss who had a polio leg. Polio wasn't just this little thing that a handful of people got. 

I'm not trying to downplay the severity of those who have lasting problems from it. I'm just saying I don't see why it would be the number one vaccine, in compared to some of the other ones.

[xmasbaby7]

My ped said the same thing, and I thought, "Why?"

My guess is that either he didn't know I was as knowledgeable about vpds as I was and thought that polio conjured up enough fear from its historical reputation. Or because it is one of the least reactive and thought I would see no reaction if I gave it to my child and feel more confident proceeding with others.

[Fyrestorm]

I've found that most Peds have a favorite, or mine it was HIB.  I think part of the thinking is that if they can make their favorite disease scary enough to get you to vaccinate for just that one, they've opened the door for tweaking you into getting the rest, after all, you agreed to this one, so what's one more and one more etc.

[EchoSoul]

I found a really great article(at least in my opinion) - based on my fiance's gut-feeling that MS, ALS, and many other muscle-degenerative diseases can be linked to the Polio vaccine. You'll find it here : http://www.30bananasaday.com/forum/topics/ms-md-als-lou-gehrigs-disease?xg_source=activity

Take from it what you wish, I just thought I'd share. :)

Edit : I haven't researched deeply into this(too many other things to do), so I cannot validate on a personal level if this is more true or false, so you may want to do your own research. For me it just connects the dots even without researching into it more thoroughly.

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by Crafty 

Originally Posted by littlec 

I don't know why that would be a major concern of his either. According to the CDC, less than 1% of people who contract polio suffer any type of paralysis, and of those, most make a complete recovery. (it's all in the polio "pink book" on the cdc page).

Post polio syndrome is still a HUGE problem for those who suffered from polio, though. And less than 1% is a fine statistic to cite, but if you speak to people who lived through the polio epidemics, most know people who lost family members and friends to the disease, and most remember kids in braces and walking with crutches in their schools. I'm only 30 and had a boss who had a polio leg. Polio wasn't just this little thing that a handful of people got. 

"According to the CDC’s Laboratory Surveillance for Wild and Vaccine-Derived Polioviruses, January 2003–June 2004, no one in the Americas are at risk for wild-polio. (There have been no cases of wild poliomyelitis in the U.S. since 1999). However, there were 54 cases of vaccine-derived polio in the Americas between January 2003 and June 2004."

http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/polio/

There is some good information here about how many of those cases of paralytic polio were actually caused by vaccines, and not just the polio vaccine:

http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/2010/06/02/polio-and-acute-flaccid-paralysis/

[Otto]

Originally Posted by Bokonon 

"According to the CDC’s Laboratory Surveillance for Wild and Vaccine-Derived Polioviruses, January 2003–June 2004, no one in the Americas are at risk for wild-polio. ...

While there have indeed been no WPV cases in the U.S. since 1979 (not 1999), I'm not seeing the part where the CDC suggests that "no one in the Americas are at risk" in the cited source.

[ETA.--And the 54 AFP cases were Sabin-like isolates, not VDPVs, which is a meaningful distinction in this context; see Table 3.]

[Marnica]

My Uncle has PP syndrome and is now in his 80's and wheelchair bound. I still will not vaccinate my DS with this vaccine. The only reason I would even consider it would be if we traveleed extensively in areas of the world wherte polio was rampant.

Originally Posted by Crafty 

Originally Posted by littlec 

I don't know why that would be a major concern of his either. According to the CDC, less than 1% of people who contract polio suffer any type of paralysis, and of those, most make a complete recovery. (it's all in the polio "pink book" on the cdc page).

Post polio syndrome is still a HUGE problem for those who suffered from polio, though. And less than 1% is a fine statistic to cite, but if you speak to people who lived through the polio epidemics, most know people who lost family members and friends to the disease, and most remember kids in braces and walking with crutches in their schools. I'm only 30 and had a boss who had a polio leg. Polio wasn't just this little thing that a handful of people got.