The Polio Vaccine: What the Manufacturer's Package Insert Tells Us

"Use of either Salk or Sabin vaccine will increase the possibility that your child will contact the disease. It appears that the most effective way to protect your child from polio is to make sure that he doesn't get the vaccine "---Dr Mendelsohn M.D.(1984)

About Polio

Polio used to be one of the most dreaded childhood disease of the early 20^th century. Not isolated to children, President Teddy Roosevelt himself contracted Polio and was permanently crippled by the illness. Pictures abound of young children living in iron lungs. At it's peak in 1952, there were over 21,000 cases of paralytic polio reported. (source: Polio.com)

Polio is caused by a virus that leaves in the intestines and is passed through the feces. The virus continues through the blood stream to the brain. Paralysis occurs when the Poliovirus damages the nervous system.

Post-Polio Syndrome

Post-Polio Syndrome describes the symptoms that 25-40% of adults who had Polio as children still experience, such as fatigue, muscle weakness or pain, sleep problems, or difficulty swallowing or breathing.

The Risks of Polio Verses The Risks of The Vaccine

Most parents are willing and eager to have their children inoculated against Polio because some of us know people who had it. Since the wild-type (that is, naturally occurring) Poliovirus has been eradicated from the western hemisphere, parents have every reason to believe the Polio vaccine is a lifesaving miracle.

Incidentally, we no longer inoculate ourselves against other diseases not found in this hemisphere anymore, such as Small Pox. Chances are, if a visitor comes into the United States carrying Poliovirus, they will have the non-wild Oral Poliovirus. (source link) According to the World Health Organization, there were less than 2,000 cases of wild-type Polio reported world wide in both 2005 and 2006.