Why would people think that more polio cases are now being caused by the vaccine than by wild polio viruses?
Well, it’s true…
Are More Polio Cases Now Being Caused by the Vaccine Than by Wild Polio Viruses?
Wait, what?
“It is no exaggeration to describe it as a crisis. Even worse, looking more widely at the current state of polio eradication, the crisis has three peaks: the first is the level of wild polioviruses in Pakistan; the second is the way that the escalating restrictions in access in Afghanistan have created a huge immunity gap; and the third peak is the widespread occurrence of vaccine-derived polioviruses.”
Independent Monitoring Board 17th Report
Yes, as we are getting close to eradicating polio, we had been seeing fewer and fewer cases of wild polio in the world.
“In rare cases, the live virus in oral polio vaccine can mutate into a form capable of sparking new outbreaks.”
Report raises concern about rare polio cases caused by oral vaccine
And we have been seeing more cases of vaccine-derived polio, which is rarely caused by the oral polio vaccine.
Fortunately, something that most folks miss is that the polio vaccine protects against both wild polio and vaccine-derived polio.
“As recently as 30 years ago, wild poliovirus paralysed more than 350,000 children in more than 125 countries every year. In 2018 there were fewer than 30 reported cases in just two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
“Zero polio transmission and health for all”, WHO Director-General gives new year’s wish to the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan
And of course, if we weren’t using these polio vaccines, while that would solve the problem of vaccine associated polio, we would simply be seeing lots more wild polio.
Even though cases of wild polio are up this year, after years of decline, they are still tremendously below what they were in the pre-vaccine era.
Remember, we are comparing about 300 cases of wild and vaccine-derived polio that we see today with more than 300,000 of wild polio that we used to see!
“Global efforts to immunise children with the oral polio vaccine (OPV) have reduced wild poliovirus cases by 99.9% since 1988.”
Fact Sheet: Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus
And even those 300 cases of wild and vaccine-derived polio cases can be eliminated if more kids get vaccinated.
“Today, global leaders convened at the Reaching the Last Mile (RLM) Forum in Abu Dhabi to affirm their commitment to eradicate polio and pledge US$2.6 billion as part of the first phase of the funding needed to implement the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s Polio Endgame Strategy 2019-2023.”
Global leaders pledge US $2.6 billion to eradicate polio at the Reaching the Last Mile forum in Abu Dhabi
And we will get those kids vaccinated.
“Fourthly, rumours and deliberate social media seeding of misinformation about the polio vaccine has had a big impact on refusal rates. Fifthly, organised boycotts of the Polio Programme to gain political concessions have reduced some communities’ acceptance of the polio vaccine.”
Independent Monitoring Board 17th Report
And we will eradicate polio.
More on Polio Eradication
- The Myth That Polio Only Went Away Because They Changed the Way It Was Diagnosed
- Are Mutant Strains of Polio Vaccine Now Causing More Paralysis Than Wild Polio?
- Why Do Anti-Vax Folks Get Excited About Polio Outbreaks?
- What Is the Morbidity/Mortality Rate of the Polio Vaccine vs the Wild Virus?
- Polio Survivor Stories
- Is There a DDT-Polio Connection?
- Did Modern Ventilators Replace the Iron Lung for Folks with Polio?
- How Quickly Can You Debunk Anti-Vaccine Propaganda?
- Why Are the DPT and OPV Vaccines Still Used in Some Countries?
- Mutant Strains Of Polio Vaccine Now Cause More Paralysis Than Wild Polio
- Fact Sheet: Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus
- Vaccine-derived Polioviruses
- Polio this week
- Global leaders pledge US $2.6 billion to eradicate polio at the Reaching the Last Mile forum in Abu Dhabi
- Independent Monitoring Board 17th Report
- Why do we still use Sabin poliovirus vaccine?
- The switch from trivalent to bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine: Will it lead to polio?
- MMWR – Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication — Pakistan, January 2017–March 2019
- MMWR – Update on Vaccine-Derived Polioviruses — Worldwide, January 2017–June 2018
- WHO – 10 facts on polio eradication
- “Zero polio transmission and health for all”, WHO Director-General gives new year’s wish to the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan
I’m amazed at your logic… “Fortunately, something that most folks miss is that the polio vaccine protects against both wild polio and vaccine-derived polio.”
If the vaccine protects you from getting vaccine-derived polio… why is vaccine-derived polio even a thing? Are you trying to tell us that the vaccine-derived polio is not caused by vaccines????