Polio is a very contagious viral disease called poliomyelitis, affecting children, especially those aged five years and below. A virus, spread through contact with an infected person’s feces or, less commonly, droplets from a sneeze or cough, invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis, which in most cases is irreversible. In some cases, it proves fatal. Thanks to the discovery of polio vaccines, the incidence of this horrific disease has significantly decreased worldwide. Today, many parts of the world are considered free from wild poliovirus transmission. Nevertheless, children will continue to require vaccination until polio is eradicated from the world completely.
What’s the Polio virus?
It is useful to know what is being vaccinated against. Polio is caused by the poliovirus, comprising three serotypes, namely types 1, 2, and 3. Though most individuals infected with poliovirus do not experience any signs or symptoms, a few percent of individuals show symptoms of flu-like conditions, while the virus can enter the central nervous system; in extreme cases, it causes paralysis or even death. Probably polio was one of the highly feared illnesses that outbreaks could paralyze tens of thousands of children every year.
The History of Polio Vaccines
The history of poliovirus vaccines dates back to the middle of the 20th century. Two vaccines proved to be of great help in controlling polio: the inactivated poliovirus vaccine, or IPV, and the oral poliovirus vaccine, or OPV. IPV is introduced through injection and includes the virus, but this time the virus is the inactivated kind, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk in 1955. This vaccine immunizes the person by stimulating their immunity to form antibodies without giving them the disease. The OPV was developed in 1961 by Dr. Albert Sabin. This vaccine is orally administered, containing a weakened version of the live virus. Not only does this vaccine bestow individual immunity but also helps communities by weakening the virus transmission in places where even sanitation is not proper.
Advantages for Children End
Guarantees Prevents Paralysis and Death: The most important advantage of polio vaccines is that the paralyzing death of polio is prevented. Prior to vaccines, polio was the cause of massive paralysis and death, particularly among children. As late as the early 1950s, at the peak of the polio seasons, some 13,000 to 20,000 cases of paralytic polio were estimated to occur yearly in the United States alone. Worldwide, the tally was obviously much greater. Where polio cases have declined more than 99% since 1988, due to widespread vaccination. Only a few cases have been reported worldwide in 2023, and polio is now endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Protection Lasts a Lifetime Long-lasting immunity developed through the vaccine can be considered the greatest strength of polio vaccination. A child after one dose of vaccination remains immune to the debilitating effect of poliovirus for life. Both IPV and OPV are highly effective. IPV provides 99-100% immunity after a full series of injections; on the other hand, the same level of protection is provided after a multiple number of doses of OPV. Since it offers lifelong immunity, the polio-vaccinated children are safe from contracting the disease their entire lives.
But beyond individual protection for children, polio vaccination plays a critical role in global efforts toward a disease-free reality. Since 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has earned many accolades for its remarkable progress, principally from vaccination campaigns. According to estimates, efforts at vaccination have halted some 18 million paralytic cases of polio and have saved more than 1.5 million who might otherwise have been crippled or killed by poliovirus. Elimination of polio would translate to the fear of paralysis or even death due to polio never again to haunt any child, which would be a triumph for global public health.
Safe and Well Tolerated Both IPV and OPV are considered safe and relatively effective.
The type of IPV administered in most developed health systems via injection has a miniature potential to cause side effects.
Mild side effects are the most common side effect, namely soreness at the injection site. OPV is also highly safe, as it interrupts transmission mainly among children because of its ease of administration in developing countries. There is a chance that in extremely rare instances, the attenuated virus in OPV may mutate to become vaccine-derived poliovirus, but this still is very minute compared with the benefits brought about by mass vaccination.
Cost-Effective Health Intervention Polio vaccination is the world’s most effective and cost-effective health intervention that exists today. Vaccines are relatively inexpensive to administer, far less so than a lifetime of medical care or support required for a person paralyzed by polio. Polio vaccines are free of charge worldwide in the poorest countries where the burden of the disease is highest; this guarantees that even the poorest and most vulnerable children have access to such life-saving protection.
It increases herd immunity. Widespread immunization against polio protects not only the vaccinated but also the unvaccinated populations through herd immunity. Herd immunity involves the immunization of a high percentage of populations exposed to a disease and, through vaccination or previous infection, become resistant to the pathogen, and its spread to other members is greatly impeded. This indirect protection is very important in case an infant is too young to be vaccinated completely and individuals with a compromised immune system cannot receive the vaccine themselves.
Barriers to Polio Vaccination
Despite how successful polio vaccination is, there exist barriers to attaining the goal of eliminating it worldwide. Misinformation, political unrest, and logistical barriers have hindered the progress in some areas. For example, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, campaigns of polio vaccinations have been threatened by continuous war and adverse reactions from various communities. In a few instances, there have been rumors related to the vaccines’ safety. That is to say that some children are left vulnerable to the disease. Nevertheless, health centers across the globe, national administrations, and local communities have not given up on strategies that ensure every child is immunized with polio vaccines.
The Future: An End Polio World
The world is on the brink of eliminating polio, yet we haven’t quite reached the finish line. Much persistence is needed in vaccination efforts not to let the virus make a comeback and afflict countries that have only recently been polio-free. One case of poliovirus in one unvaccinated community quickly escalates into an outbreak as the years of work are undone. Thus, vaccination coverage should remain very high until polio is finally eliminated.
Conclusion
The polio vaccines made the war on one of the most crippling diseases in history even more inviting since they provide the chance to remain protected throughout an entire lifetime against paralysis and death.
Besides, they help with herd immunity, and thirdly, eventually, with global eradication efforts. The continued use of these vaccines ensures protection against the virus for children for many generations to come and contributes to realizing a polio-free world. Vaccination can ensure that no child ever again suffers from the devastating effects of poliomyelitis.
