Vaccine Against The Polio Virus

Polio or Poliomyelitis is a form of infantile paralysis caused by a virus. The Poliovirus is a highly infectious enterovirus which can pass from host to host via oral route due to infectious pathogens found in infected fecal matter.

Polio can affect many children but in 90% of the cases the infection doesn’t cause severe problems, but not manifesting at all. The usual effect of the Poliovirus is an attack on the motor neurons of the brain, which can lead to full or partial paralysis in the host. It is a very severe condition that can have a major impact of the future life of infants, leaving them without the capability of walking in many cases.

The best way of preventing polio is by means of a vaccine that should be administered to infants in order to make sure no problems can appear. There are currently two vaccines against the Poliovirus and both act on the immune system to prepare it for the disease by making antibodies. After the vaccine is administered it acts by suppressing transmission from the host to others. This is beneficial for the entire community, as well as the initial recipient.

The polio vaccine has been around for little more than half a century and was developed by Jonas Salk. It is composed of the poliovirus itself, which has been made inactive, or better said, dead. With the polio introduced into the body, the immune system reacts to it as to any unwelcomed foreign object and fights against it. If the virus is dead it cannot produce any damage to the host, but it does provide a motive for antibodies to be made. Once the immune system is made aware of how to react when the infection hits, it knows what to do and is able to completely fight it off in the future.