Polio Vaccination Causes More Infections than Wild Virus

In rare instances, the live virus in oral polio vaccines can mutate and become infectious, causing new outbreaks.

Written byJef Akst

| 2 min read

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ABOVE: FLICKR, CDC GLOBAL

Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Angola have experienced nine new cases of polio caused by the live virus in oral polio vaccines that has mutated into an infectious form, according to statistics released last week (November 20) by the World Health Organization. That brings the global total of these types of infections to 157 for the year, and it means that more children are paralyzed as a result of such vaccine-derived infections than illnesses caused by the wildtype virus, which has affected 107 people this year.

Other countries in Africa and Asia have also reported such vaccine-derived infections, which have the potential to spark new outbreaks. In Africa alone, there are currently a dozen vaccine-derived polio outbreaks, and another was declared in the Philippines last month—the country’s first cases of the disease in more than 25 years, NPR reports.

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
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Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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