Do Children of Polio Survivors Need the Polio Vaccine ?
Original Post: Isn't it true that all of our children are automatically immune from polio, even if they are not vaccinated? I got Polio at the age of one in 1937. At that time I was advised my children are automatically immune from contacting polio. Now I'm hearing all children (even children of survivors) need the vaccine. When was this changed?
Dr. Bruno’s Response: It NEVER was changed because it’s not true. Sadly, whoever told you that children of polio survivors did not need the vaccine was grievously uninformed. Just because you developed antibodies after having polio or by receiving the vaccine does not mean that your children received antibodies from you during your pregnancy. Poliovirus antibodies (immunoglobulin A and others) are found in breast milk and do protect the infant, but only during breast feeding. After that, the antibodies disappear and polio vaccination is vital.
What’s more, if you're traveling to a country where the poliovirus - the wild virus or mutated oral vaccine strains - are still around (the Middle East, India, Ukraine, Pakistan, any country where refugees are coming in mass from a polio endemic country and any of the countries currently on the GPEI Polio Outbreak list), it would be prudent to talk to your physician or call your Dept of Health about having a booster shot of the polio vaccine.
John McFarlane, President of the European Polio Union, agrees: "All children require vaccination, even those of polio survivors, as immunity against the virus has been shown not to cross the placental barrier. In addition, protection needs to be ensured for all three types of poliovirus. It is important to note that polio survivors can contract polio again, from a different type of the virus from the one they originally contracted (usually Type I).”
For this reason, it is imperative that polio survivors, like everyone else have up to date vaccinations, especially when travelling to ‘high risk’ regions.
Here’s the bottom line:
EVERYONE, EVERY CHILD, NEEDS TO BE VACCINATED AGAINST POLIO.