Polio booster - yay or nay?

[roarfeckingroarr]

We live in London so my almost 2 year old has been invited for a Polio booster.

He's fully vaccinated - which I thought already included a Polio jab. If he had one recently, I'm not too keen on giving him a booster already. I think I had one when tiny, but then until recently we had eradicated Polio in the UK, so perhaps it's no longer on the schedule.

If you have a toddler or young child, are you going to take up the offer?

@Bouledeneige it's not in the water supply - it's been found in sewage samples

I thought it was people were getting a live vaccine overseas?

Yes but then I’m not bloody stupid. My sil is always quoting social media twats over science.

Does anyone know if the booster is a live vaccine?

DS is due his second dose of the chicken pox vaccine next week, and I’m not sure if I need to delay it because of the polio.

@Glitteratitar inactive

if you ever need to know anything official there is only one site in UK - gov.uk

anything else = scam

here is polio information for London

Uk.gov polio

It's inactivated

I wish we had a bit more of a codified social contract.

Get your kids vaccinated.

If you move to this country, take up our vaccination programmes.

Do your bit. Don't be a dick.

It’s incredibly sad and annoying that it’s necessary; we’d nearly eliminated polio worldwide, but sadly some incredibly regressive attitudes undermined the program and that’s now fed back to us here in London who do sadly need to get our children inoculated again.

No, it was (among other things) “community and religious leaders” telling the faithful that it was a plot by the West to sterilize Muslims.

Glad you have decided to go with the booster. My father had polio caught pre vaccine in 1951 from swimming in a public swimming pool. He had paralysis of his upper limbs, half his diaphragm was paralysed. 40 years later he developed post polio syndrome which affected his respiratory muscles and eventually caused his death, a death very similar to someone with MND.

Why do only young children need it? What about older children and teens? And for that matter adults?

Like most adults I would guess, I don't think I've had a polio vaccine since secondary school. Does that last? I am assuming not as the young children being given a booster will only have had there scheduled vaccines very recently?

Does anyone know the rationale for only giving boosters to the age 1-9 age group?

The UK changed the polio vaccine in 2004

Before 2004 it provided "good protection against polio and also provides high levels of gut immunity."
After 2004 in the UK it "provides excellent protection from severe polio but individuals can still become infected and spread polio virus without exhibiting any symptoms."

So kids under 9 can catch it and pass it on to unvaccinated people

In addition the whooping cough vax in pregnancy - offered from 2012 onwards has possibly reduced the effectiveness of the vaccines given to small kids

Thank you @MrsPear and @chillipenguin. I assumed it was was inactivated but didn’t know if they had changed it because of the current outbreak.

It's interesting that it's inactivated now (sure it was inactivated when DD had hers as a baby - she's 12).

I'm sure it used to be active. When DS had his as a baby (he's 30 now) I had to have a few drops too, as I was told it could pass on through his nappies to me, so it must have been active (think he had drops in his mouth too). Pretty sure I had it on a sugar cube as a child (in the 70s).

I'd certainly get it. I'm a District nurse and have come across many patients with issues- caught polio as a child and have been left with serious life long problems. Not worth the risk.

I would 100% be booking my children in for the polio vaccine if it were being offered to them.

@buggeringbuggery yes I’m sure it was active years ago too - I’m the eldest child by a few years and I remember when the youngest sibling had it I was told to be careful with nappy changing. I asked if it was still the case when I had ds age 12 vaccinated and the nurse - who looked younger than me - looked at me like I had 2 heads!

My uncle died of polio at the age of three. I wouldn’t hesitate.

I'm old enough to remember seeing children with calipers on their legs due to polio, and film of some in iron lungs. I had a friend who sadly had many health issues as a result of polio, I would urge anyone to get a polio vaccine, getting polio is just horrific.

My understanding is that in this specific situation that's actually not the primary concern. The polio they are finding in the sewage is 'wild' polio and it seems that the 'non wild' version that's given in vaccines may have reverted to its wild form.

That's how some science guy described it on the radio anyway. He was being a bit cautious because admittedly the explanation sounded like an anti vaxxers wet dream in terms of live vaccines escaping etc.

God yes. This is why eradicated diseases like polio, TB etc are on the rise again. Patents just think Oh that hasn't been around for years, no need to vaccinate.

The disease itself never dies out completely. We just have herd immunity to it so no outbreaks. As soon as the immunity begins to wane, it's back to being a threat. Polio is spreading in London so I'd have any booster they offer you.

There's a short documentary on YouTube called Last of the Iron Lungs. It's really eye opening to what polio actually does and how terrifying a disease it really is.

Having lived through the worst of the covid crisis, I can really empathise more now with what it was like back then. Its not long only about 20 mins from memory but really worth watching.