Two vaccines for Polio

I felt happy when I read the tweets of Bill Gates describing eradication of polio in Nigeria and efforts of Korea to eradicate polio.

Similarly, I felt pretty happy when I read the news about The Indian government’s decision to introduce IPV.  The Government’s the decision to administer IPV along with OPV in their Immunization program from April 2016 is a pioneered decision to eradicate Polio entirely from the country.

What are OPV and IPV

OPV(Oral polio vaccine) consists of weakened(Attenuated) live poliovirus which has to be administered orally in the form of drops.

IPV(Inactivated Polio Vaccine) consists of killed poliovirus which will be administered intramuscularly in the form of injections.

How these works

OPV Consists of the 3 serotypes of live poliovirus that are weakened (Attenuated). This elicits the immune response to produce antibodies against 3 serotypes which will be adequate only after 3 or more administrations. The specific antibodies produced against the Poliovirus prevents the spread of the virus to the nervous system, thereby preventing paralysis.OPV also creates a local immune response inside the intestinal lumen, where the virus multiplies.

IPV(Inactivated polio vaccine)  consists of killed serotypes of polio, IPV also induces immune response similar to OPV.

Drawbacks

In rare cases, OPV results in vaccine-induced poliomyelitis as nonvirulent strains resulting in paralysis. This is the reason for not achieving 100% eradication of Polio.

IPV induces deficient immunity in the intestine, and it is costly.

Solution:

IPV administered along with OPV Supports a robust immune response against Poliovirus and helps to overcome drawbacks of both kinds of vaccines.