74 chapter 7
PREVENTION OF POLIO
• Vaccinate babies with polio vaccine. It is usually
best to give the first polio vaccination around
3 months of age. Be sure they get the vaccine
4 times by the time they are 18 months old. They
should get a 5th dose when they are 5 years old.
POLIO VACCINE,
the best protection–
IF it has been kept
cold continuously!
• Vaccinate as many children as possible. The vaccine given by mouth is alive. So, if
most of the children are vaccinated, the live vaccine will spread to children who have
not been vaccinated, and protect them also.
• Try to keep the live polio vaccine frozen until shortly before it is used. For up to
3 months it can be thawed and refrozen. But it must be kept cold or it will spoil.
• Seek community help with vaccination
and in keeping vaccines cold. Sometimes
vaccines do not reach villages because
health posts lack refrigeration. But often
storekeepers and a few families have
refrigerators. Win their interest and
cooperation.
• To give best protection, vaccinate
the child when she does not have
a fever or a cold or diarrhea. But if
by 6 months of age, the child still has
not been vaccinated, give her the
polio vaccine even if she is a little
sick. However, there is a chance
that the vaccine may not work if it is given when the child is sick (with a virus infection).
Therefore, still try to give the complete series of 3 vaccinations and one booster later,
when the child is not sick.
It is estimated that in poor countries at least one-third of vaccines are spoiled by the
time they reach the children. Therefore, even in children who have been vaccinated,
additional precautions are needed:
• Breast feed your baby as long as possible. Breast
milk contains ‘antibodies’ that may help protect
against polio. (Babies rarely get polio before 8
months old because they still have their mothers’
antibodies. Breast feeding may make this protection
last longer.)
BREAST MILK
PROTECTS
AGAINST
INFECTIONS–
INCLUDING
POLIO
• Organize the people and help out
in popular campaigns to encourage
vaccination and breast feeding.
Community theater and puppet
shows are good ways to raise
awareness on these issues. See
Chapter 48.
Disabled village Children