As a polio survivor among the few who had residual lifelong paralysis, it has been frustrating to witness the spread of vaccine hesitancy or denial. And as is mentioned in comments below, there have been several cases among children in Israel recently. There is polio virus in the wastewater there, of course, but it's also shown up in the UK. 3 years after my onset of polio, I had the Salk vaccine in the 1954 trials. And then I also had the Sabin vaccine in 1960 or 61 (sugar cube). More recently, I got a Salk booster, because there is some speculation among European researchers that the vaccine may slow the progression of post-polio effects, and it certainly didn't hurt to try this approach. Oh, yes, there's that too, post-polio sequelae; that no matter your degree of effect, even if you had it but had no symptoms, 30-50 years later 50-75% of polio survivors have early degeneration of motor neurons. Everyone's motor neurons deteriorate as we age, but since some of ours were killed off (even if minimally) and we then went on to try to live "normal" physical lives, pushing ourselves to do what others did, our motor neurons wear out faster. So we get to re-experience the fatigue and weakness that were the hallmark of polio, but as older people who already have fatigue and weakness. You may guess that I have no patience with vaccine deniers. I have had a good life in spite of this (I wrote two books on my experience and how I work to live well), but my disability affected nearly all of my life experiences and I wouldn't wish this on another child. Francine Falk-Allen, Facilitator for Polio Survivors of Marin County; member of City of San Rafael ADA Accessibility Committee
Hello, Paul. You wrote: "It was called Vaccine-Associated Paralytic Polio or VAPP. Sabin’s vaccine paralyzed 1 of every 3.8 million children who received it"
Did you mean "around 3.8 of every million children who received it?" That is the number cited in Platt et al's 2014 article "Vaccine-Associated Paralytic Poliomyelitis: A Review of the Epidemiology and Estimation of the Global Burden" in J. Infect.Dis.
Thanks for this update. My cohort was one of the first to get the Sabin oral vaccine, which we kids were very happy about because we were all terrified of needles and also it tasted great. However one of my more adventurous little friends held hers in her mouth and spat it out in the school garden, just being a cheeky little kid. She got polio in her final year of high school and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. I often wish that I’d told on her. But we were only 6 years old. You’d think adults would have more sense.
Thanks Paul. My dad had polio (all 3 strains) as a kid and spent 6 months in an iron lung. I also happen to live in the next zip code to the young man who contracted paralytic polio last June. It is the same community who had a measles outbreak a few years earlier. Elders are spooking young mothers with fear. This community also recently won a lawsuit in which a well rounded education is not necessary. This is a bad omen for the community, the surrounding area, and our country.
I’m old enough to remember when the Sabin vaccine was considered superior because it was contagious. Immunize a whole family by giving one dose to an infant.
Crippling polio is an iatrogenic disease. The only way to avoid polio complications is staying away from doctors. Poliovirus, enterovirus, measles viruses are harmless. But if you go to a doctor, they cause muscle injury (intramuscular injection of ANY sort). The result is provocation paralysis (crippling polio, acute flaccid myelitis - AFM) or measles encephalitis. So if you don't go to a doctor, these infections are harmless. No vaccine was ever needed.
Injections and acute flaccid myelitis: the dog that hasn't barked
They eventually came up with an eIPV (enhanced IPV,) super-high titre, which is the inactivated one used today. It's certainly extremely effective against paralytic polio, but probably still not so great at preventing asymptomatic transmission of the virus. Israel has been having asymptomatic outbreaks of the virus, too. I'd guess most countries that switched to IPV a long time ago are having them, as well, even if they haven't been detected.
I think we should give everyone a couple more rounds of OPV in the US, preferably as close to at the same time as possible, re-upping our collective herd immunity.
As a polio survivor among the few who had residual lifelong paralysis, it has been frustrating to witness the spread of vaccine hesitancy or denial. And as is mentioned in comments below, there have been several cases among children in Israel recently. There is polio virus in the wastewater there, of course, but it's also shown up in the UK. 3 years after my onset of polio, I had the Salk vaccine in the 1954 trials. And then I also had the Sabin vaccine in 1960 or 61 (sugar cube). More recently, I got a Salk booster, because there is some speculation among European researchers that the vaccine may slow the progression of post-polio effects, and it certainly didn't hurt to try this approach. Oh, yes, there's that too, post-polio sequelae; that no matter your degree of effect, even if you had it but had no symptoms, 30-50 years later 50-75% of polio survivors have early degeneration of motor neurons. Everyone's motor neurons deteriorate as we age, but since some of ours were killed off (even if minimally) and we then went on to try to live "normal" physical lives, pushing ourselves to do what others did, our motor neurons wear out faster. So we get to re-experience the fatigue and weakness that were the hallmark of polio, but as older people who already have fatigue and weakness. You may guess that I have no patience with vaccine deniers. I have had a good life in spite of this (I wrote two books on my experience and how I work to live well), but my disability affected nearly all of my life experiences and I wouldn't wish this on another child. Francine Falk-Allen, Facilitator for Polio Survivors of Marin County; member of City of San Rafael ADA Accessibility Committee
Hello, Paul. You wrote: "It was called Vaccine-Associated Paralytic Polio or VAPP. Sabin’s vaccine paralyzed 1 of every 3.8 million children who received it"
Did you mean "around 3.8 of every million children who received it?" That is the number cited in Platt et al's 2014 article "Vaccine-Associated Paralytic Poliomyelitis: A Review of the Epidemiology and Estimation of the Global Burden" in J. Infect.Dis.
Warm regards from Jody Lanard MD
Thanks for this update. My cohort was one of the first to get the Sabin oral vaccine, which we kids were very happy about because we were all terrified of needles and also it tasted great. However one of my more adventurous little friends held hers in her mouth and spat it out in the school garden, just being a cheeky little kid. She got polio in her final year of high school and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. I often wish that I’d told on her. But we were only 6 years old. You’d think adults would have more sense.
Thanks for doing what you do.
Thanks Paul. My dad had polio (all 3 strains) as a kid and spent 6 months in an iron lung. I also happen to live in the next zip code to the young man who contracted paralytic polio last June. It is the same community who had a measles outbreak a few years earlier. Elders are spooking young mothers with fear. This community also recently won a lawsuit in which a well rounded education is not necessary. This is a bad omen for the community, the surrounding area, and our country.
Thank you for keeping us informed.
I’m old enough to remember when the Sabin vaccine was considered superior because it was contagious. Immunize a whole family by giving one dose to an infant.
Paul .. great to get a regular dose of your insight !!
Polio Survivors understand.
No child should suffer from a Vaccine Preventable disease. The pain and disability CAN last a lifetime.
Crippling polio is an iatrogenic disease. The only way to avoid polio complications is staying away from doctors. Poliovirus, enterovirus, measles viruses are harmless. But if you go to a doctor, they cause muscle injury (intramuscular injection of ANY sort). The result is provocation paralysis (crippling polio, acute flaccid myelitis - AFM) or measles encephalitis. So if you don't go to a doctor, these infections are harmless. No vaccine was ever needed.
Injections and acute flaccid myelitis: the dog that hasn't barked
https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k5246/rr
The story of the Salk vaccine is a bit more complicated than that. See:https://books.google.com/books?id=VJHpAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA90&lpg=RA2-PA90&dq=%22the+present+status+of+polio+vaccines%22&source=bl&ots=I9EQADvcSY&sig=ACfU3U2OwxBvJGnNe6BEcE72q9UoOBY5Kg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwigr92ph4f-AhVgTDABHRvoDnQQ6AF6BAgXEAM#v=onepage&q=%22the%20present%20status%20of%20polio%20vaccines%22&f=false
They eventually came up with an eIPV (enhanced IPV,) super-high titre, which is the inactivated one used today. It's certainly extremely effective against paralytic polio, but probably still not so great at preventing asymptomatic transmission of the virus. Israel has been having asymptomatic outbreaks of the virus, too. I'd guess most countries that switched to IPV a long time ago are having them, as well, even if they haven't been detected.
I think we should give everyone a couple more rounds of OPV in the US, preferably as close to at the same time as possible, re-upping our collective herd immunity.