I'm worried about polio (because of OPV)

[KLM99]

My daughter is not vaccinated against polio, and the more I read, like this:

http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com...ater-para.html

The more I become afraid of her getting a strain of polio caused by the vaccine - funny that I'm considering getting a vaccine because of vaccinated children... Please tell me why I should get over this! Thanks!

[bri276]

read all of those studies- not one patient is from the US. OPV is not given here. and the polio vaccine we DO have isn't convincing enough for "normal polio" (whatever the heck that is), let alone a mutated vaccine virus.

[KLM99]

I realize that OPV isn't given here, but with people coming in and out of the country, I'm just worried that someone will bring it here. Is that totally unfounded?

[alegna]

Originally Posted by KLM99

I realize that OPV isn't given here, but with people coming in and out of the country, I'm just worried that someone will bring it here. Is that totally unfounded?

I'd say it's hugely highly unlikely.

-Angela

[DahliaRW]

I actually think it's likely for my children to contract polio. I do think it is UNLIKELY for them to suffer an adverse effect from it. Paralytic polio and such is actually very very very rare. Most cases of polio present like a cold and you don't even know you have it or that you ever had it.

[13Sandals]

I understand what you are saying - you're not so afraid of the wild type - but what about these 'mutant' vaccine-derived strains? Even these strains are trasmitted via the fecal-oral route. Its nearly impossible for you or your kids to come into contact with infected fecal matter from someone visiting who might have recently received OPV. If this were common place, we would still have documented polio cases in the US - but we don't. If at some point you do decide to travel with your children to a place where this might be a concern, you can test titers and then decide if you want to go ahead with the vaccine (IPV).

Nothing wrong with reserving judgement for later if new circumstances arise. But as things stand right now - there is virtually no risk.

For the record though - when my second was 14 months, I did get the IPV because our local community was still using up the rest of the OPV supply. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't bother. But I understand your concern.

[KLM99]

Originally Posted by DahliaRW

I actually think it's likely for my children to contract polio. I do think it is UNLIKELY for them to suffer an adverse effect from it. Paralytic polio and such is actually very very very rare. Most cases of polio present like a cold and you don't even know you have it or that you ever had it.

Thanks for this - I agree with you about wild polio, and because of that, wild polio does not concern me. I just read about freakish mutated vaccine strains and wonder if those don't cause paralytic polio more frequently than would wild polio?

[Plummeting]

Those claiming it's nearly impossible to contract vaccine-derived polio in the US need to remember the Amish infant who contracted it a few years ago. She hadn't been traveling outside the US and when they tested her community, they also found several other children who had it. So, no it is NOT impossible to catch OPV polio in the US.

That doesn't mean it's a big concern. It isn't, IMO, because neither she nor any of the other children were ever sick. They'd just had the virus and recovered. No big deal. The point is just that it is possible and claiming it isn't is inaccurate.

[bri276]

but do you think IPV would protect against mutated OPV polio? I don't know if it actually protects against "regular" polio. I'm not even sure that polio was or is polio.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by KLM99

I realize that OPV isn't given here, but with people coming in and out of the country, I'm just worried that someone will bring it here. Is that totally unfounded?

No. It is thought that that is how the virus began circulating in an Amish community (no actual polio though)

My mom had polio in the 50s, was in an iron lung, and later was a competative roller skater as a teen. Her younger brother and parents did not contract it.
http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/?page_id=26

Quote:

Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route. Although around 90% of polio infections have no symptoms at all, affected individuals can exhibit a range of symptoms if the virus enters the blood stream. In fewer than 1% of cases the virus enters the central nervous system preferentially infecting and destroying motor neurons leading to muscle weakness and acute flaccid paralysis. Different types of paralysis may occur, depending on the nerves involved. Spinal polio is the most common form, characterized by asymmetric paralysis that most often involves the legs. Bulbar polio leads to weakness of muscles innervated by cranial nerves. Bulbospinal polio is a combination of bulbar and spinal paralysis. Sister Elizabeth Kenny, developed a physical therapy treatment for limbs affected by paralysis where hot woolen blankets were applied to the limbs and the muscles were stretched by massage; she is considered to be the founder of modern physical therapy.

Read here:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=356355
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=252526

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...play.php?f=113

[NYMOM07]

so, how does the polio outbreak in the 50's (?) fit in with all of this? my grandparents told me how awful it was, that many people were becoming paralyzed, iron lungs, etc.. that FDR had become paralyzed and was in a wheelchair. and that the vaccine was what controled it to the point were it is rare or near impossible to catch in the US. How can the vaccine be that ineffective?

just trying to figure stuff out. thanks in advance.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by jsirris

so, how does the polio outbreak in the 50's (?) fit in with all of this? my grandparents told me how awful it was, that many people were becoming paralyzed, iron lungs, etc.. that FDR had become paralyzed and was in a wheelchair. and that the vaccine was what controled it to the point were it is rare or near impossible to catch in the US. How can the vaccine be that ineffective?

just trying to figure stuff out. thanks in advance.

They've decided FDR did NOT have polio.

Also many other "polio" cases were probably not polio. They didn't test. They diagnosed by symptoms. Lots of things throw the same symptoms... including DDT poisoning...

-Angela

[13Sandals]

[QUOTE=Plummeting;11752148]Those claiming it's nearly impossible to contract vaccine-derived polio in the US need to remember the Amish infant who contracted it a few years ago. She hadn't been traveling outside the US and when they tested her community, they also found several other children who had it. So, no it is NOT impossible to catch OPV polio in the US.
QUOTE]

I stand corrected - I'd forgotten about the Amish 'outbreak'. Though, to be fair, there was no sickness and they only found the virus by accident when testing a 7 month old for other things (and it wasn't making the baby ill). So, I amend what I said; there have been no clinical cases of polio in the US from OPV even though we have many visitors from many places that still use OPV.

[janellesmommy]

Originally Posted by DahliaRW

Most cases of polio present like a cold and you don't even know you have it or that you ever had it.

I've read this before and it totally makes sense, since the polio and common cold viruses are extremely similar genetically.

[PassionateWriter]

Originally Posted by alegna

They've decided FDR did NOT have polio.

Also many other "polio" cases were probably not polio. They didn't test. They diagnosed by symptoms. Lots of things throw the same symptoms... including DDT poisoning...

-Angela

ive seen this (and actually told this to others) but is there anywhere "official" that this is stated?

[aniT]

And if you think about it, DDT poisoning makes more sense. "Polio" occurred during the summer, usually centered around "swimming holes" that had probably just been sprayed with DDT to keep the mosquitoes away.

But since DDT was considered perfectly safe at the time.. they would have never investigated that avenue.

[mamadelbosque]

They changed the definition of polio shortly after the vaccines came out. Before you just had to have simptons of polio for like 24 hours to have paraylitic polio. Now we call the same thing something completely different: meningitus. Ever heard of that? Ever been scared of that? THATS what your grandparents were scared of. THey just called it Polio instead of meningitus.

[amnesiac]

Summer is the season for enteroviral infection. Even without DDT, summer seasonality & occurrance among swimming hole congregations, especially in untreated water, makes sense for both polio & NPEV. But there is a difference between meningitis & AFP whether caused by polio or something else (NPEV, arboviruses, Campylobacter, other viruses).

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/...lio_entero.htm

Unfortunately no lab testing was ever done on FDR so no one will ever know for certain what exactly caused his paralysis. The best that can be done is guessing.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...52C1A9659C8B63