Policy. OPV cessation--the final step to a "polio-free" world

Science. 2005 Oct 28;310(5748):625-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1115547.

Abstract

The 20-year, U.S. $4 billion-dollar international effort to eradicate wild polioviruses now includes monovalent oral poliovirus type 1 vaccine (mOPV1), which was first given to 40 million children in India in April 2005. As this vaccine is being introduced to eliminate some of the last poliovirus reservoirs, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is planning for the eventual synchronized worldwide cessation of the routine use of all oral poliovirus vaccines (OPVs) because of their capacity to cause, rarely, outbreaks of paralytic poliomyelitis. This Policy Forum reviews the feasibility and implications of eventually stopping the use of live polio vaccines.

MeSH terms

  • Drug Utilization / legislation & jurisprudence
  • Global Health
  • Health Policy
  • Humans
  • Legislation, Drug
  • Mass Vaccination / legislation & jurisprudence
  • Mass Vaccination / organization & administration
  • Poliomyelitis / prevention & control*
  • Poliovirus Vaccine, Oral*
  • Public Health

Substances

  • Poliovirus Vaccine, Oral