Should my 82 year old mother get vaccinated for Polio at this stage in her life?

I’m sure she already got vaccinated for Polio since it was a requirement to go to school. Also…a blood test first to test for polio antibodies..I believe they stay in body forever…but if you want to make sure, have her take a blood test. Hugs 🤗

I read recently about the hero Dr Jonas Salk and his discovery of the vaccine for poliomyelitis, which saved thousands upon thousands of children from a lifetime of disability. And Franklin D Roosevelt, wheelchair polio victim, who inaugurated the ‘March of Dimes’ where Americans laid lines of dimes along pavements to fund the research. And that no royalties were charged for it! A memory for the USA to be very very proud about.

It would be truly ironic if fear of a polio resurgence overcame the Covid anti-vaxers.

"While there is no federal law that requires people to get the polio vaccine, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have state laws requiring children who are entering childcare or public schools to have this vaccination."

I would like to point out that parents are being blamed for not getting their children vaccinations, I never got the polio or small pox vacation as a child, it wasn't part of the protocol because the diseases had been eradicated in the USA.

So, this 20 year old would not have been vax'd because it wasn't required when he was a child.

Our government used to use a brain when determining what vaccinations to give children, because there is always a risk for adverse reactions and the potential for good must outway that potential, not so in 2022. God help us.

It is not about race. It is not about religion or ethnicity.

FACT: Third-world countries still have diseases that have been eradicated in first-world countries.

FACT: People born and raised in one of these places don't always get sick from these diseases or may only get mild cases. They can often be carriers though. That is why when they want to legally enter places like the U.S. and Europe they have to show proof of vaccination OR be detained and quarantined for a certain amount of time. This is to make sure they aren't sick themselves or carriers. If people are sneaked in, this process doesn't happen.

FACT: The American government INSISTS that American citizens who plan on travel to some third-world countries like Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, the Philippines and other places, must receive special vaccinations before they leave. This is for the safety of the traveler and the safety of the population when they return.

I travelled quite a bit in my 20's and 30's. UK, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Greece, Poland, Germany, The Czech Republic, Israel, several lovely islands (Bermuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Hawaii). Did not have to get any special vaccinations. I had considered going to Peru at one time to see an archaelogical site. It wasn't worth the amount of shots I would have needed to safely go there. So went to see Stonehenge instead.

It's not a race issue or a cultural issue. This the problem with people now. When they don't like a fact they turn it into something bad. Like racism or sexism, or some other 'ism'.

Yes, if doc recommends it.

I just heard on the news today that polio is on the rise and detected in New York.

https://www.pbs.org/news/health/the-risk-to-new-yorkers-is-real-polio-virus-found-in-nyc-wastewater

This has all got me worried. I hate to say it, but I traveled from Adelaide to London via San Francisco and New York, then back the same way, spending time in each city, and was not checked once for health status or vaccinations. It’s about travel, not being legal. I think with so much international travel, the old assumptions have gone about a country being ‘free of’ the diseases that the locals are vaccinated against. My daughter (vaxed) and grandson (???) have just gone to Ireland, and I’ve written to ask them to check. Oh the joys of globalism! Sometimes they elude me.

Take your mom to get the polio vaccination. She can get it at one of the drug stores in her area like CVS or Walgreens. There is no sense in your mom worrying about this polio vaccination.

JoAnn, the "sugar cube" aka Sabin vaccine was not introduced into the US until the 1960s, although it was in use in the USSR before that. The Salk vaccine was introduced in 1954 or 55 and was injected.

How well I can remember various scientific advances (vaccines, fluoridation of the water supply, the teaching of phonics) being labeled "Communist Plots".

That innoculated me against conspiracy theories, I guess.

The polio vaccine was introduced in 1955. I remember getting a sugar cube with the vaccine in it. Yes, like small pox, it was considered eradicated. Your Mom would have been 15 in 1955. She should remember getting a sugar cube.

As suggested, her getting the vaccine should be discussed with her PCP.

Polio and many other diseases were previously virtually eliminated in the US decades ago. However, rising numbers of U.S. citizens who have chosen not to be vaccinated for a variety of reasons are the going to be the reason why you see rising numbers across the country for what had become unthinkable outbreaks of not only polio but measles, whooping cough, mumps, etc. While it is true that unimmunized illegals may bring it in (and I'd be happier if screens were more thorough too) you don't get disease spread unless you have an available reservoir of infectable bodies. Certain cities have as high as 20 percent of their residents that are not immunized against preventable disease and certain manipulations have virtually no one immunized with standard vaccines. The spread of polio will not be limited to just New York and London. Mumps outbreaks happen every year when colleges open. We had a measles outbreak in our area. I'd ask your mom's doctor for recommendations but since the polio vaccine given here is now only the killed version the risk of any problem is very low.

There are folks in the US and elsewhere your are electing to no longer vaccinate their children. Ergo, we will see a rise in previously eradicated diseases like polio.

She should talk to her health provider about the possibility that she is unvaccinated for polio. I would err on the side of caution and get it.

Polio was eradicated in the United States, England, and every other industrialized first-world country a LONG time ago.
She should get the vaccine and not worry about polio spreading in the U.S. and western Europe. The only time cases of that and many other eradicated diseases that haven't been seen in 60 or 70 years in first-world countries is because people are illegally entering these countries and have not met the health and vaccination requirements. If mom is staying in Mexico then get her the vaccine. She's more likely to catch it there. If you're planning on bringing her here, please get her vaccinated.

She lives in Mexico City. Why is she worried about London and new York? The polio virus is spread from feces and cough droplets but mainly poop. If she is that paranoid she should get the vaccine.

Yes. Why wouldn't she?

Fernantini, if her primary doctor says "yes", then have her get the vaccine, and any other's he/she recommends. Such as the pneumonia vaccine and the whooping cough vaccine.