Do Adults Need a Polio Booster? Infectious Disease Doctors Weigh In
from the New York State Department of Health and the Rockland County Department of Health, an unvaccinated man in Rockland County contracted the virus from someone who had received the oral polio vaccine . As a result, he developed an infection with what’s known as vaccine-derived poliovirus .
State Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH, said in the press release. “The polio vaccine is safe and effective, protecting against this potentially debilitating disease, and it has been part of the backbone of required, routine childhood immunization recommended by health officials and public health agencies nationwide.”
“Most people do not need a polio booster because they were vaccinated against polio when they were very young,” Dr. Schaffner says. “In general, there is no polio in the U.S. and no polio in most of the world, so people don’t need a booster.” “You probably couldn’t have gone to school if you weren’t up to date,” he says. “Most schools in the U.S. have a policy of ‘no shots, no school’ when it comes to poliovirus.”