User:Mr. Ibrahem/Polio vaccine

Polio vaccines are vaccines used to prevent poliomyelitis (polio). Two types are used: an inactivated poliovirus given by injection (IPV) and a weakened poliovirus given by mouth (OPV). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all children be fully vaccinated against polio. The two vaccines have eliminated polio from most of the world, and reduced the number of cases reported each year from an estimated 350,000 in 1988 to 33 in 2018.

The inactivated polio vaccines are very safe. Mild redness or pain may occur at the site of injection. Oral polio vaccines cause about three cases of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis per million doses given. This compares with 5,000 cases per million who are paralysed following a polio infection. Both are generally safe to give during pregnancy and in those who have HIV/AIDS but are otherwise well.

The first successful demonstration of a polio vaccine was by Hilary Koprowski in 1950, with a live attenuated virus which people drank. The vaccine was not approved for use in the United States, but was used successfully elsewhere. An inactivated polio vaccine, developed a few years later by Jonas Salk, came into use in 1955. A different, oral polio vaccine was developed by Albert Sabin and came into commercial use in 1961. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. The wholesale cost per dose for the oral vaccine in the developing world is about US$0.25 as of 2014. In the United States, the inactivated form costs between $25 and $50.