I read you need FOUR doses of the polio vaccine to be immune...if I only got three for my OPV is that good enough?

Question

I got the oral dosage. I was born in 1993 and my vaccine infant card shows three dates for my OPV vaccine against Polio. I just read today at age four I was supposed to get a fourth dosage booster. Why didn’t my parents get it for me? Why didn’t my doctor tell them?

I’m very worried. All it takes is one person coming to America to cause an epidemic.

Answer 1

Favorite Answer

First - polio is very rare in the developed world. Your chances of exposure are reduced. If you're going to travel to a country that has a higher risk of polio, talk to your doctor and get the necessary shots.

Second - it does NOT take one person to start an epdimic. For a disease to spread, it needs viable hosts. If the vaccination rate is high enough, the disease can't spread. When vaccination rates drop, it makes it easier for a disease to spread and cause an epdimic. It's called "herd immunity". That's why ignorant people who reject vaccines are such a problem to their communities. They make it easier for diseases to spread and harm others.

Answer 2

Funny. Even these days people think they get immune by vaccinations...(shake my head)

Answer 3

well that is never gonna happen as they got rid of it long time ago