In Europe, poliomielite was eradicated in 2002. But it is important to continue vaccination, until the virus is completely eradicated all over the world.
The anti -Pypolitomielite vaccine protects from polio, a viral infection that in some cases can cause a form of serious illness, with irreversible paralysis of the muscles, in particular of the legs, and respiratory paralysis with fatal outcomes.
The antipolio is one of the six vaccines contained in the hexavalent vaccination, administered during the first year of life.
Even if Italy, and Europe in general, have been declared free from this disease for more than 20 years, it is important to continue to carry out the anti -polite vaccine until the virus is completely eradicated all over the world.
What is the anti -Piolippielite vaccine
The vaccine against poliomielite protects from poliovirusthe virus that causes polomielite.
Originally there were three types of circulating poliovirus, but thanks to the vaccination campaigns, two of these (type 2 and type 3) were completely eradicated. The type 1 poliovirus, on the other hand, is still responsible for epidemics in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The contagion is transmitted by gold-fecal, through water or contaminated foods, or less frequently through the droplets emitted through the cough and sneezing shots.
In about 9 out of 10 cases the infection does not involve symptoms. If, on the other hand, the symptoms are present, concern:
- fever;
- tiredness;
- vomit;
- pains of the limbs.
In 1-5% of cases the disease occurs in the form of meningitis and in one case out of 200 an irreversible paralysis occurs, mainly dependent on the muscles of the lower limbs, which lose tone and become flaccids. If the paralysis involves the respiratory muscles, the outcome can be fatal.
How it is administered and when
The anti -Polio vaccine, as mentioned, is contained in the exavalent. The primary cycle consists of three administrations during the first year of life (in the third, fifth and eleventh month).
Once the primary cycle is completed, the anti-Polio vaccine provides for a recall between 5 and 6 years of age via combined tetravalent vaccine-tetan-tape-pi-political (DTPP) and a second call with the same vaccine combined during adolescence (generally at 12-13 years).
Both the primary cycle and the two subsequent references are mandatory.
Types of anti -polite vaccine
There are two types of vaccine against poliomielite: the Salk vaccine, or IPV vaccine (inactivated anti -anti -policy vaccine) and the Sabin vaccine, or OPV vaccine (oral antipolium vaccine).
The Salk vaccine is the one currently used in Italy and contained in the exavalent: it is an inactivated virus vaccine (ie “killed”), administered intramuscularly. This vaccine protects from the disease, but not from infection: vaccinated people can, that is, contract the polio virus and transmit it to others through the stool.
The Sabin vaccine, on the other hand, is an attenuated virus vaccine, that is, it contains a bland version of the poliovirus, capable of causing a disease in a very slight form. It is administered orally and allows you to produce antibodies at the level of the intestinal mucosa, which are able to block the infection from the beginning, preventing the wild poliovirus from multiplying and, therefore, their circulation.
In addition, virus strains contained in the vaccine can be eliminated through the stool and transmitted to others. This represents a further advantage, since it guarantees a sort of “indirect” or passive vaccination, which has contributed to the success of the vaccination campaigns that led to the complete elimination of type 1 and 2 poliovirus.
However, it is necessary to consider that in extremely rare cases this virus, less virulent than the wild one, can change and resume its danger, in particular in subjects with a weakened immune system, causing forms of paralysis.
Although it is very rare events, once the goal of eliminating Polio, the oral vaccine has been replaced with the inactivated one that is not associated with the risk of paralysis.
Poliomielite vaccine in Italy
The anti -Polio vaccine (Salk) was introduced in Italy in the late 1950s, but only in 1964 a mass vaccination campaign was undertaken in our country, using the oral vaccine (Sabin). Before this campaign in Italy every year on average 3,000 cases of paralytic polomielite were reported, a number that has reduced enormously in a short time.
In 1982 the last autochthonous case of flaccid paralysis due to the wild virus of polio was reported in Italy and subsequently some cases of paralysis due to the vaccination virus were reported. In 2002, Polio was declared Erandicata (ebellata) on the European continent, and in Italy the Sabin vaccine was completely abandoned.
Currently the cases of poliomielite due to the wild type 1 poliovirus are reported only in two nations: Pakistan (74 cases reported in 2024) and Afghanistan (25 cases in 2024).
They are also reported in different geographical contexts due to vaccination viruses. In some European nations during 2024 and the first months of 2025, horses of vaccination poliovirus in wastewater were isolated. This is an indicator of the circulation of vaccination viruses in the population and underlines the importance of keeping the coverage with vaccination against polomielite also in Italy and in the European continent. In fact, people not protected from vaccination are exposed to potential risks due to the circulation of hurdling strains.
Anti -polite vaccine and side effects
The side effects of the IPV anti -poison vaccine (Salk) are similar to those of the other vaccines contained in the exavalent, or:
- pain and swelling to the injection site;
- fever;
- tiredness;
- in appearance;
- vomit.
In very rare cases (about a case out of 1 million doses of vaccine) serious allergic reactions may occur.
As mentioned above, the Sabin oral vaccine, no longer used in Italy, could cause, in very rare cases and mainly in subjects with a weakened immune system, flaccid paralysis.
