Injectable Polio Virus Vaccine Urged to Counter Rare Form of Disease

A U.S. doctors’ group recommended Wednesday that children be vaccinated with an injectable “killed” form of the polio virus to prevent a rarer form of the disease caused by the live virus vaccine given orally. The American Academy of Pediatrics said in its news magazine, AAP News, that children should receive the killed form of the polio virus via injection at infancy. Currently, many infants receive the oral vaccine that contains a usually safe, live-virus form of the disease, followed by the injectable killed virus in later doses.

But the academy wants the change to prevent the extremely rare cases of paralytic polio caused by the live virus vaccine. The number of cases is estimated at 1 in 5 million, or eight to 10 cases a year.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II