Medical Health Encyclopedia

Poliovirus Vaccine in Older Children and Adults. The poliovirus vaccine is not usually recommended for people over 18. Exceptions are unvaccinated healthcare workers, laboratory technicians, or others exposed to polioviruses. Travelers to developing countries where outbreaks of poliovirus have been reported should be vaccinated. Adults should also be given the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV).

Side Effects of the Poliomyelitis Vaccines

Allergic Reactions. The IPV contains small amounts of streptomycin and neomycin, so people allergic to these antibiotics can also have an allergic response to this vaccine. Patients should report any allergies to their physician.

Paralysis. Rare cases of paralysis have occurred in people taking the oral live poliovirus vaccine or in those exposed to recipients of this vaccine. It should be stressed the risk is very small, with only one case occurring out of 2.4 million doses. Since the introduction of the current recommended series that uses only IPV, no cases have been reported.

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Contamination by Simian Virus 40. The public has been alarmed by reports of contamination of polio vaccines given between 1955 and 1963 by a virus known as SV40. The virus has been detected in certain rare cancers, including mesothelioma (a lung cancer normally associated with asbestos exposure), osteosarcoma, some brain tumors, and non-Hodgkin''s lymphoma.

Click the icon to see an image of a brain tumor.

Still, about 98 million people may have been exposed, and most of these cancers are very rare (although some, including non-Hodgkin''s lymphoma, are increasing). At least 40 years of observation have raised no red flags that indicate any serious problem. However, polio, once a major killer of children, has nearly been wiped out worldwide.