Sunday, June 8, 2014

Polio Vaccine - Recommended for Some Travelers!

Due to the unstable nature of many countries, polio virus infections have begun to spread in these areas.

The CDC now recommends that travelers to these regions get the inactivated polio vaccine (this is not a
live virus) even if they were vaccinated as a child. We now know that some childhood vaccine levels can wane as we get older (like whooping cough). Its better to be safe.

In its declaration, the WHO noted that 10 countries have ongoing poliovirus transmission:

Cameroon, Pakistan, and Syria have recently exported wild poliovirus. Residents and people traveling to these countries for more than 4 weeks are required to receive IPV or oral polio vaccine 4 to 52 weeks before departing these countries.
Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Somalia, and Nigeria are infected with poliovirus but have not yet exported it. Residents and long-term travelers to these countries are encouraged to get boosters.

Anytime you travel you can go to the CDC web site to see ongoing recommendations.


http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00362.asp

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2014/chapter-3-infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/poliomyelitis

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