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Is this a polio risk?  

post #1 of 15
8/28/08 at 4:18pm
Thread Starter 
Please excuse my ignorance on this... I realize there have been no cases of wild polio in a long time... but I'm confused on this..

DS's playgroup has a little girl who travels with her parents to India frequently. I'm sure they are wealthy but I have no idea but what the state of polio is in India. I feel bad even asking this. The girl is vaxed I'm sure but DS isn't. So if the IPV doesn't prevent carriage or transmission, couldn't she theoretically give it to DS if she came into contact with it?

I thought polio was an easy one to scratch off the list but now I'm worried over this, probably needlessly?, but please advise. Thanks!
post #2 of 15
8/28/08 at 4:22pm
Quote:
The girl is vaxed I'm sure but DS isn't. So if the IPV doesn't prevent carriage or transmission, couldn't she theoretically give it to DS if she came into contact with it?
Yeah, she could. There's still quite a bit of polio in India.

Quote:
I thought polio was an easy one to scratch off the list but now I'm worried over this, probably needlessly?, but please advise. Thanks!
Well...I don't know. it could happen, but you're talking about a case where your kid would be the first case of paralytic polio among millions and millions of US kids in decades. It seems really, really unlikely...but it could, in theory, happen.
post #3 of 15
8/28/08 at 4:25pm
Also, the CDC has recommended (in the past, at least) that peple get OPV if they're going into polio endemic areas. So the girl might have gotten OPV at some point and be more or less completely immune. It might be worth casually asking her parents.
post #4 of 15
8/28/08 at 4:54pm
The oral is the live polio vaccine and does shed. The last active cases in North American of polio are connected to the live polio virus. Yes, this is something to inquire about.

See Money Magazine, the December 1996 issue, page 153 and read about Lenita Schafer.

here also...http://www.vaccinationnews.com/daily...1/MoneyMag.htm
post #5 of 15
8/28/08 at 6:44pm
Thread Starter 
Wow, bummer. I figured I was just being paranoid.

Well, not that worrying about this doesn't make me overly paranoid, I am, but I was hoping to find out it wasn't really possible.
post #6 of 15
8/28/08 at 7:34pm
Here is the current update for the week on Polio in India. Considering the size of India and the population the # of polio cases is not too high. 372 cases of polio with a population over 1,000,000,000.

According to CDC recommendations she probably got IPV.

The little girl in the playgroup was probably vaccinated a while ago since you said that the family goes frequently. I'd casually ask her parents as well, in a light general discussion about traveling to India and not worry.
post #7 of 15
8/28/08 at 11:48pm
Are you actually worried that your son will be the first person in the United States since 1979 to have wild polio? Or the first person since 2000 to have polio related to the oral vaccine?
post #8 of 15
8/29/08 at 3:00am
Polio is spread through feces... your child can't get it by getting coughed or sneezed on...i wouldn't worry about it. Polio doesn't have to be something that will maime you....that's a worst case...any case is not all that comforting but unless they will be around dirty diapers i wouldn't worry about it...the epidemics were in areas with poor sanitation and sewerage...especially in india, some places do/did not have modern santitation as we do.
post #9 of 15
8/29/08 at 10:02am
Thread Starter 
"Are you actually worried that your son will be the first person in the United States since 1979 to have wild polio? Or the first person since 2000 to have polio related to the oral vaccine?"

Not so much worried about polio from the oral vaccine, if the girl got the OPV it was probably quite a while ago, moreso worried that somehow he'll be the first person in the U.S.??? I guess it sounds ridiculous. But I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet w/the number of ppl who probably travel to India and places where it's more common than that with only the IPV.

i.e., the girl had a poopy diaper during the playgroup, mom changed her and brought her back, and DS continued to play w/her and mouth the same toys, etc. I know DS loves to stick his hands in his dirty diapers while I'm changing him. So, basically that's how I'm afraid it could happen.
post #10 of 15
8/29/08 at 10:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamakay View Post
Well...I don't know. it could happen, but you're talking about a case where your kid would be the first case of paralytic polio among millions and millions of US kids in decades. It seems really, really unlikely...but it could, in theory, happen.
this. It hasn't happened in decades with people traveling back and forth. I wouldn't personally worry.

-Angela
post #11 of 15
8/29/08 at 1:59pm
Quote:
But I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet w/the number of ppl who probably travel to India and places where it's more common than that with only the IPV.
It's probably not going to happen because, like I mentioned Polio is not rampant in India. It's only in Uttar Pradesh as WPV, and 372 cases in a province of 190 million people. The percentage of the population in this province is .0001957% that has polio. You could live in this province and not be vaxed and really have no need to worry.

It is not a disease that is highly contagious like measles. I read a blog by a traveler to India that stated they saw IPV being used in India.
post #12 of 15
8/29/08 at 2:13pm
Quote:
I'm sure they are wealthy
Having spoke to several of my Indian friends, all agreed that being wealthy has No barring on vaccine status. While the majority of Indians living in this county have professional visas (ex.-Dr's.) there are many Indians who have been born here and return frequently to family. Thus said, there are a growing number of the medical community that are NOT vaccinating as well.

You man want to seriously consider not asking about the vaccine status of the child, you could be in for scrutiny and condemnation of your own regarding your child. You may not be met with a favorable reply. If things were reversed, how would you feel if someone questioned you?
post #13 of 15
8/29/08 at 2:23pm
Yeah, I can't imagine asking someone who wasn't extremely close to me such a personal, private question.
post #14 of 15
8/29/08 at 2:32pm
I don't think a casual "Oh, you're going to India again? Cool! Do they still make travelers who go to India get that old polio vaccine that you drink or eat on a sugar cube?"...would be too personal.
post #15 of 15
8/29/08 at 2:40pm
No, doesn't sound too personal like that. It would put mentioning vax status completely in their ballpark without directly asking.
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