Salk or Sabin Vaccine Antibodies Being Passed from Mother to Child
Original Post: Do either the Salk or Sabin vaccines pass polio immunity to offspring? Can the oral vaccine actually cause polio?
Dr. Bruno’s Response: Mothers transfer antibodies in utero (however they are created, naturally or by vaccination), to their infants. They remain protecting the child for about 6 months.
The oral vaccine (OPV) can mutate once in several million doses and can do so in a child’s feces, giving a polio infection to the young child or two the unvaccinated person changing the diaper. This is a very rare occurrence but is the reason the oral vaccine was discontinued in the United States in 2000.
For those who are interested here is some in-depth information:
Maternal Antibodies: Clinical Significance, Mechanism of Interference