Sherri Tenpeny's notes on Polio Vaccine

[Mzjelybely]

POLIO
For further reading, see:
http://www.vaclib.org/basic/Neil_Z_Miller_Peer-Reviewed_Study.pdf
The Virus and the Vaccine by Debbie Bookchin and Jim Schumacher
http://www.vaclib.org/sites/debate/web1.html

From the Merck manual:

>90% of cases: A simple viral infection
-feels like the flu; nausea, vomiting, malaise, weakness
-symptoms develop 3-5 days after exposure
-recovery is within 24-72 hours
-lifetime immunity

~5% of cases: abortive poliomyelitis
-non-specific illness
-indistinguishable from any other virus
- lifetime immunity

~3% of cases: Non-paralytic polio
-onset up to 14 daysafter recovery of minor viral illness
-high fever, severe headaches, stiff neck
-asymetrical limb weakness, hyperesthesia / paresthesia in extremeties
-usually diagnosed as viral meningitis
-stmptoms last 2-10 days, followed by complete recovery and lifetime immunity

<2%: paralytic polio
3 types of paralytic polio:
-79% spinal (most common, can take 2 months for full recovery)
-19% spinobulbar
-2% Bulbar (iron lung) (=.04% of ALL polio cases)

Aftermath of paralytic polio episode:
>50% have complete recovery
Functional losses can improve >2years
The amount of paralysis present at 12 months is usually considered permanent


April 1955: Polio vaccine introduced to the market
1956: States reporting an increase of cases:
Vermont: 266% increase
Rhode Island: 454% increase
Mass.: 642% increase
Idaho and Utah ban use of vaccine because there had been no cases in those states until the vaccine was released.

SO, WHY WAS IT BEING REPORTED AS A SUCCESS?

1. New definition of the disease / new way to diagnose thedisease.

Before 1954, Polio was diagnosed if:
-Partial or complete paralysis was present in one or muscle groups.
-Paralysis detected in 2 exams, 24 hours apart.

After 1954, Polio was diagnosed if:
-One had residual paralysis 10-20 days and again at 50-70 days after the onset of the illness
SO, THE DIAGNOSIS ALONE PUT YOU INTO THE SMALLER CATEGORY

2. New definition of an epidemic

Before 1954: 6/100,000
After 1954: 35/100,000

SO, YOU HAVE TO HAVE MORE CASES OF A LESS LIKELY DIAGNOSIS TO SHOW AN INCREASE

The "decrease" was due to the way the data was reported and not due to the vaccine effects.

Source: The American Journal of Public Health Vol. 45, Sup, 1-63, 1955




"Since 1979, the only cases of polio in the US have been associated with the OPV. The western hemisphere was certified by the WHO as polio free in 1994 and no cases of wild polio have been reported since 1991."
Sources: Surgeon General David Satcher, MD
MMWR 1994; 43:720-2
JAMA, Jan. 20, 1999; vol, 281, no.3

BUT isn't polio just a plane ride away?

From 1980 to 1998 (18 years):
There were 6 cases of imported polio documented in the US. (one every 3 years)
The last reported case was in NYC in 1993

MMWR May 19, 2000 / 49 (RR05); 1-22

So why are we vaccinating every child (77,000 born in US every week) at 2, 4, 6, 12 months and age 5? what exactly are we trying to protect against?

From the package insert:
"Of the 127 cases of paralytic poliomyelitis reported in the US between 1980 and 1994, six were imported cases, two were "indeterminite cases" and 119 were vaccine associated paralytic poliomyelitis cases associated with the use of the live attenuated oral polio virus vaccine."
And we need to vaccinate every child born in the US why?

"In the US, 219 infants received three doses of a similar enhanced IPV at two, four and eighteen months."
-So why do they get it at 2, 4, 6, 12 months and age 5? It hasn't been tested for that.

"Because IPV was given at a different site but concurrently with Diptheria and tetanus toxoids and Pertussis Vaccine Absorbed (DTaP), these systematic reactions could not be attributed to a specific vaccine."
They are not going to find what they are not looking for. "There is no proof" is a true statement because they designed the studies in such a way that there could bo no conclusive proof.

Something else to consider. This vaccine has ONLY BEEN TESTED WITH DTaP. It has not been tested with any other vaccine.