An unvaccinated child and polio vaccination - can he become infected from a vaccinated child with a live vaccine?

Childhood vaccination is a hot topic, especially for parents. Polio vaccination raises many questions. This most dangerous disease of the nervous system often ends in peripheral paralysis. Therefore, polio vaccination is now included in the vaccination schedule.

Immunization is carried out with 2 types of polio drugs in several stages: first with an inactivated vaccine, then with a live one. And this last vaccination scares parents the most: what if the child gets infected with polio from the vaccinated person? Is it possible? Let's figure it out.

Is it necessary to carry out

In Russia, polio vaccination for children under 14 years of age is mandatory, according to the resolution of the Ministry of Health.

The polio virus is dangerous mainly for young children under 5 years of age. The lower extremities suffer the most, and after being ill, the child may become disabled. In more than 5% of cases, paralysis affects the respiratory muscles, which can be fatal.

Poliomyelitis is spread by airborne droplets and household routes. A person can be a passive virus carrier, being a source of infection for others. There is no cure for polio, and the only effective method of protection is vaccination.

Additional vaccination against polio in questions from parents and answers from Dr. Komarovsky

Poliomyelitis is a viral infection (viral means there are no drugs that can kill the pathogen). It is transmitted through the mouth: by water, that is, as a disease of dirty hands. The only effective method of prevention is vaccination.

Read about polio and polio vaccines here (small document).

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To understand further text, here is some brief information about vaccines.

OPV (oral polio vaccine) is a vaccine containing a live, attenuated polio virus. Dripping into the mouth - 2 drops on the tongue.

IPV is a polio vaccine containing inactivated (killed) polio virus. It is administered by injection (injection). IPV may be included in combination vaccines, such as Infanrix and Pentaxim.

Questions and answers

My child is vaccinated according to the calendar (in whole or in part). Should I agree to additional polio vaccination? If yes, then why is it needed?

Active circulation of polio viruses has been confirmed in Ukraine. It (this circulation) can be interrupted by simultaneous mass vaccination of children with OPV, which is carried out in several rounds.

Children who are correctly vaccinated according to the calendar using IPV have virtually no risk of getting sick, but can be carriers (and spreaders) of the virus, since IPV (unlike OPV) does not form local immunity in the intestines.

That is why additional OPV vaccination is recommended for such children. The purpose of additional polio vaccination is not so much to protect a given child, but to stop the circulation of the virus in the country.

It is fundamentally important that for children initially vaccinated with IPV, subsequent OPV vaccination is absolutely safe.

My child is not vaccinated at all. Can he receive polio drops?

If the child is more than 2 months old and has never been vaccinated against polio, vaccination should begin with IPV.

OPV is administered no earlier than 2 weeks after IPV.

I know that the vaccine was thawed and then frozen again. What does it mean? Is it dangerous?

For those vaccinated, it means nothing and poses no danger. WHO, the vaccine manufacturer and the Ministry of Health have confirmed that repeated freezing of the vaccine does not affect its effectiveness and safety. Some journalists, some businessmen close to the Ministry of Health who have lost the opportunity to make money by purchasing a vaccine, and all professional opponents of vaccinations do not agree with this, so you have the opportunity to read about this regularly.

Can I determine if the vaccine was stored incorrectly?

WHO experts and the vaccine manufacturer officially advise that OPV is heat sensitive, so its quality must be carefully monitored using temperature indicators.

Parents have the opportunity to personally verify the suitability or unsuitability of the vaccine.

All bottles are equipped with a thermal indicator (usually located on the label). The thermal indicator is a square located inside a circle. If the bottle is exposed to excessive heat, the square will darken. You can only use bottles where the inner square is lighter than the outer circle.

Is the polio vaccine dangerous for a child?

Both OPV and IPV are among the safest vaccines. The only serious complication of OPV is the so-called vaccine-associated polio (VAP). The vaccine is live, so some unvaccinated children (on average 1 in 3 million) may develop the disease after vaccination. It is in order to avoid VAP that vaccination begins with IPV - the inactivated vaccine creates immunity sufficient to prevent VAP.

In other words:

• IPV is not dangerous in principle;
• OPV is dangerous to the unvaccinated;
• OPV is not dangerous for those previously vaccinated with IPV.

Is a child vaccinated with a live polio vaccine dangerous to others?

A child vaccinated with OPV releases live virus into the environment for some time, i.e., it is a source of infection. For those fully or partially vaccinated against polio, there is no risk. For those who are not vaccinated at all, theoretically there is a risk of the disease, and it is 1 case per 7–14 million vaccinations. However, even this risk can be reduced by observing basic rules of personal hygiene (reminder: polio is a disease of dirty hands).

Taking into account the extremely low probability of developing VAP in contacts, there is no need for any isolation, bans or quarantines, and such measures are not taken in any country in the world.

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In conclusion, a few words about my attitude to the “document” of an anonymous group of authors who are hiding under the guise of the “Civil Rights Defense League.”

The main thing in my opinion is my enormous disappointment due to the fact that many people are seriously considering and actively disseminating this anonymous verbiage, built on incomplete, unreliable and deliberately false information and, moreover, created by an organization that is professionally engaged in anti-vaccination activities.

We also recommend listening.

author Komarovsky E.O. published 26/10/2015 13:22 updated 31/01/2018

Vaccination calendar

The population immunization schedule for the prevention of polio was established by the Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation of 2011. There are two types of vaccines used for vaccinations:

• IPV is an inactivated polio vaccine that is given by injection;
• OPV is an oral polio vaccine made from live strains of the virus.

The preparations contain 3 types of polio virus, the introduction of which becomes a reliable protection for a person against any form of the disease. There are also complex vaccines, such as Pentaxim, Infanrix Penta, which include several viruses at once.

The first vaccination against polio occurs at 3 months from birth. It is important to do it in a timely manner, since by this time the baby no longer has maternal immunity.

Table. Procedure for vaccinating children against polio.

It is believed that stable immunity is formed after a full range of vaccinations. Vaccination is provided free of charge at public clinics. The polio vaccine is given at the same time as DTP.

Vaccination can also be carried out in private clinics. To receive consultation and vaccination, you must make an appointment.

Is a “live” vaccine dangerous?

“There is no risk of getting polio as a result of vaccination after such a vaccination,” explains Susanna Kharit, a leading specialist in vaccine prevention at the Research Institute of Childhood Infections of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia. In accordance with the National Vaccination Calendar introduced in 2011, the first two vaccinations are carried out using “killed” strains. This provides protection
against complications, since after these vaccinations children develop immunity to all three strains of the virus included in the “live” vaccine. After this it becomes completely safe. This scheme has been used for many years in various countries on the recommendation of WHO and has shown its effectiveness.

Vaccinations for adults

If we are talking about immunization of adults, it is carried out according to the following schedule:

• 1st IPV vaccine;
• after 1-2 months, repeated introduction of IPV;
• after 6-12 months the 3rd vaccination is carried out.

Adults need to be vaccinated only in exceptional cases:

• if the person was not vaccinated in childhood;
• when planning a trip to countries where polio outbreaks have been reported;
• when working with infected people;
• after contact with a sick person.

There were no effective treatments

How did they try to treat polio? At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, when the disease acquired the character of epidemics, the sick ended up in hospitals for a long time: for months and even years. Unfortunately, the consequences of paralysis in most cases remained for life and could not be treated.

If the virus affected the muscles of the diaphragm, patients were placed in so-called “iron lungs” - boxes in which pressure changes helped the lungs work.

The worst thing is that this treatment did not help. Children and adults infected with the virus lived and died while shackled in a metal structure. After spending a year in such a chamber, the patients' respiratory muscles atrophied; they could not even be connected to modern artificial stimulation devices. By the way, there are still people who use “iron lungs”; unfortunately, it is not possible for them to return to normal life.

Are there any restrictions

In some cases, vaccination cannot be done. Contraindications to immunization against polio:

• pregnancy;
• immunodeficiencies of various origins;
• allergy to the components of the drug (neomycin, streptomycin);
• severe reaction to a previous vaccination;
• colds, acute respiratory infections;
• exacerbation of chronic diseases.

In the last two cases, vaccination should be postponed until complete recovery. In a state of reduced immunity, vaccination can cause negative consequences.

Children with immunodeficiency cannot receive a vaccine based on live strains of the virus (OPV). In this case, the possibility of vaccinating them with an inactivated vaccine (IPV) is being discussed.

The most important

In 2010, an uninvited guest appeared in our country - a “wild” strain of the polio virus.
To prevent children at risk - aged 5 months to 6 years - from becoming infected, starting in 2011 they will be vaccinated with a “live” vaccine. If all vaccinations from birth are done on time, this vaccine does not pose any danger to the child. Tags:

• Safety
• Babies
• Immunity
• Vaccinations

2 comments • To leave a comment you must be an authorized user

• dubinina081275 I'm shocked!
• cherkas-lyubov85 I am generally against vaccinations!! Why don't they talk about complications after vaccinations?? But children from vaccinations become disabled not from illness, but from your vaccines!!

How is vaccination carried out?

Inactivated vaccine (IPV) is given in two ways - subcutaneously or in the upper arm (thigh). The method of administration depends on the manufacturer of the drug.

Live vaccines (OPV) are administered orally to the lymphoid tissue of the pharynx or palatine tonsils. The child is asked to throw back his head and open his mouth, where 2 and 4 drops are dripped, depending on the dosage of the drug. For an hour after the vaccine is administered, you should not eat or drink, including water.

For 24 hours after vaccination, you should not eat allergenic foods, get hypothermic, or communicate with sick people.

How the polio virus was discovered

The very first attempts to study polio were made by an orthopedic doctor from the Netherlands, Jacob Heine. In 1840, he systematized data about the disease and described its characteristic features. Heine suggested that the underlying pathology was infection.

In 1907, a scientist from Sweden, Wikman, classified the clinical signs of the disease, and in 1908, polio was reproduced in experiments with monkeys - Popper and Landsteiner injected the animals with a drug obtained from the spinal cord of a sick child. All tests for bacteria were negative, so the researchers assumed a viral origin of the disease.

ON A NOTE! The virus is highly resistant to external factors. It tolerates drying and freezing well; it is not affected by digestive tract enzymes, chemicals, or antibiotics. It remains viable for three months in an aquatic environment and for six months in feces. But it does not tolerate UV rays, disinfectants and high temperatures.

The main “objects” of the polio virus are children under five years of age. An unvaccinated adult can also get sick, but in this case the pathology will be especially severe. Infection is possible by drinking water or food, or through surrounding objects. Most often, the virus is activated in the summer and autumn.

Oddly enough, the disease began to take on an epidemic character as the level of hygiene and comfort of the population increased. Scientists have found that it is better for a person to come into contact with the pathogen in infancy - the supply of maternal antibodies is sufficient for immunity to be formed when encountering the virus. With an increased desire for cleanliness and sterility, such a meeting does not occur. As a result, in the future, as maternal protection is spent, the likelihood of infection increases sharply.

In 1949-1951, a group of scientists discovered that the virus that causes polio could multiply in cultural media. This discovery made it possible not only to begin the active development of diagnostic and preventive methods, but also to begin the search for a vaccine. In 1954, Frederick Robbins, John Enders and Thomas Weller received the Nobel Prize for it.

What to do if deadlines are missed

If the vaccination schedule is disrupted, there is no need to do the entire series again. If the first vaccination is not administered on time or doses are missed, the entire schedule is shifted according to a certain algorithm.

The doctor will determine which vaccinations were missed and prescribe their administration, observing the minimum intervals between them:

• between 1st and 2nd – 30 days;
• between 2nd and 3rd – 30 days;
• between the 3rd and 4th and beyond – 6 months.

Thus, if the first vaccination was missed at 3 months, it will be given at 4 months. It is too early to do the second one within the prescribed period (4.5 months), you need to maintain a gap of 1 month. Thus, the second vaccination is given at 5 months.

A dose administered before the minimum interval has expired is not counted. Thus, the entire series of immunizations must be completed before age 14. After this age, vaccination is carried out only according to epidemiological indicators.

If vaccination information is lost, the child is considered unvaccinated and a full series of polio vaccinations is required.

Victory of Soviet scientists

The fate of the live polio vaccine and its further role in global epidemiology was decided by Sabin’s meeting with the Soviet scientist Mikhail Chumakov. At that time, Mikhail Petrovich was in America - together with his wife and colleague, he was sent to the States to exchange experiences. Chumakov quickly seized on this theory, and after some time several thousand doses of polio vaccines were brought to the USSR.

The drug, which had not been fully tested, was tested on everyone - myself, relatives, colleagues. Understanding perfectly well the danger of such experiments, none of my relatives objected. Everyone knew that this was necessary to protect their children from a terrible disease.

Production of live Sabin vaccine has begun at the Polio Institute. However, the Ministry of Health did not approve of this idea - “if the drug was abandoned in America, why should we test and produce it”? Chumakov decided to take a risk and carried out a successful vaccination, after which the polio epidemic was ended in just a year and a half, and the vaccine was exported to more than 60 countries.

Possible adverse reactions from vaccination

Often, vaccination is well tolerated without causing any side effects to the body. Some side effects may sometimes occur:

1. Mild intestinal upset that lasts about 2-3 days. If you have loose stools for a longer period of time and accompanying suspicious symptoms (poor appetite, lethargy), you should consult a doctor. This condition can be caused by an intestinal infection not associated with the administration of the vaccine.
2. An allergic reaction in the form of a rash or hives. Any such phenomenon requires medical consultation to exclude serious consequences, for example, Quincke's edema. The doctor will prescribe antiallergic medications (Zodak, Fenistil, Loratadine). If you are prone to allergies, you should start taking antihistamines a few days before the vaccination.
3. VAPP (vaccine-associated polio) occurs in one in a million cases. Most often, an abortive form is observed (without paralysis), accompanied by symptoms of acute respiratory infections, muscle twitching, pain in the back and limbs. Recovery occurs within a month. Severe paralytic forms are extremely rare.

To avoid complications, it is necessary to follow the rules of preparation and behavior after vaccination. However, side effects are often observed due to poor-quality material or non-compliance with the technique of its administration.

Current state of the problem

According to Rospotrebnadzor, in 2019-2020, outbreaks of polio were observed in Ethiopia, Congo, the Philippines and a number of other African countries. Due to the lack of vaccination, there is still a high probability of epidemics in Iran, Iraq, Ukraine, Syria and many others.

ON A NOTE! In 2002, as a result of the actions of anti-vaxxers, residents of Tajikistan were “freed” from polio vaccination; it became optional. As a result, only a small proportion of children were able to receive the vaccine. In 2010, the country was faced with an outbreak of morbidity - the infection was brought from India, more than seven hundred children were infected, and 21 children died. Only thanks to international assistance, drugs were quickly brought into the country and almost three million children were immunized. (according to RIA Novosti)

In Russia, there is no talk of a mass spread of polio yet, and this is only thanks to vaccination. However, more and more often in the news there are reports of outbreaks of the disease among visitors (for example, from Chechnya), as well as data from Rospotrebnadzor on cases of vaccine-associated polio.

Meanwhile, scientists predict an epidemic situation in the near future. This is due, firstly, to the mutation of the virus, secondly, to the cyclical nature of its activation (about 12-15 years), and thirdly, to the lack of literacy of modern young parents. Considering the polio vaccine to be a “relic of the past,” and the disease itself long forgotten and eradicated, they refuse to vaccinate their children, exposing them and those around them to terrible danger.

In connection with the above, every parent should think carefully before refusing vaccination. This behavior endangers the health and life of not only your child, but also those around you. After all, it is only thanks to vaccinated children that the pathology does not manifest itself aggressively, and unvaccinated children grow up not knowing what polio is.