4 ms·
As far as I know, OPV isn't used in childhood immunization programs in developed countries any more, but it used to be and I think every successful polio eradic
by makomk 4y ago
As far as I know, OPV isn't used in childhood immunization programs in developed countries any more, but it used to be and I think every successful polio eradication program in countries where it's no longer endemic relied on it. There's also some evidence that the inactivated vaccine isn't so good at preventing polio from multiplying in people's guts and spreading to others. Is this a problem in practice? There's probably not any way to know for sure. Also, since polio spreads via the oral-fecal route it's obviously going to spread more effectively in developing countries with poor sewage treatment, so what works in the developed world may not work so well elsewhere anyway.
- throwway120385 4y agoThis would seem to suggest that it's not a problem with the vaccine but with the level of sanitation. The one big relevant difference here is that in developed countries we had flush toilets and sewer systems carrying effluent away from the populace, which may not be true in places that still have polio. So OPV could work but doesn't not because it's ineffective but because the polio-rich effluent produced by vaccinated people isn't being carried away from them effectively. So maybe the best way to eradicate polio is to build sewers and septic systems.