Polioa highly contagious viral infection that can cause paralysis and deathhas been eradicated in Canada for decades thanks to widespread vaccination efforts.
However, recent comments — including those from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his attorney — amplify claims questioning the safety of measles vaccines, mumps and rubella, as well as against polio.
Both have been used safely for decades around the world by millions of people.
Aaron Siri, attorney advising Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in 2022 request the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke its approval of the current polio vaccine, but the petition has attracted renewed attention in recent weeks after Kennedy was named as Trump’s choice for health secretary.
In the petition letter, Siri urged the FDA to withdraw or suspend the polio vaccine, alleging that its initial clinical trials lacked control groups and monitored long-term safety, thus failing to meet federal safety standards .
However, the polio vaccine he mentions, IPOL has undergone extensive clinical trialsincluding control groups. Regulatory agencies such as FDA have approved the vaccine based on strong evidence.
Kennedy is also a vaccine skeptic, recently saying he might investigate vaccines he believes are linked to autism. a long-debunked theory.
His comments, as well as the continued spread of skepticism about vaccineshave sparked increased interest in Google. This renewed curiosity is reflected in the increase in search terms on Google, including queries such as “What is polio?” “, “Polio vaccine approved” and “Does polio still exist? “.
Amid this renewed curiosity, Trump has spoken out on the issue, telling reporters Monday, “Nothing is going to happen quickly” when it comes to the polio vaccine.
“Bobby is a very rational guy, you’re not going to waste the polio vaccine,” he told reporters. “I have friends who were really affected, and they’re still not in good shape because of it.”
As vaccine rhetoric in the United States continues to spread, Dr. Christopher Labos, a Montreal-based cardiologist and epidemiologist, fears that growing vaccine hesitancy could lead to a resurgence of polio.
“The more people doubt the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, the more vaccination rates begin to decline. And it won’t take much to get us back below the critical threshold where we start to see more and more outbreaks of polio, whether in the United States or in this country,” he said .
“If we start to return to the days of sustained community spread of polio, we’re going to see more people getting sick. We’re going to see more children paralyzed, we’re going to see deaths,” Labos added.
Polio is a highly contagious viral disease caused by the poliovirus.
It mainly affects children under the age of five, but can also affect adults. The virus spreads through person-to-person contact, often through contaminated food, water or surfaces, and can attack the nervous system, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Receive weekly health news
Receive the latest medical news and health information every Sunday.
While many people infected with the virus experience mild or no symptoms, others develop more serious complications, including permanent disability. In severe cases, polio can cause paralysis, muscle weakness, and in some cases, death.
Throughout the early 20th century, polio epidemics began to occur more regularly, particularly during the summer months, with cities experiencing large numbers of cases. according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Little was known about how the disease spread, leading to closed swimming pools in the summer and empty playgrounds as parents tried to protect their children from the disease.
And many children who contracted the disease have faced serious long-term consequences, including paralysis and the need for life-saving devices like the iron lung to help them breathe.
But once a widespread and devastating disease, polio has seen a 99 percent decline in cases worldwide since 1988, thanks to global vaccination and eradication efforts.
Since 1994, Canada has been free of the virus.
For now, poliovirus remains endemic in only two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Until poliovirus transmission is interrupted in these countries, all countries remain at risk of polio importation, particularly vulnerable countries with weak public health and immunization services and travel links or trade with endemic countries,” according to the report. Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
What we know about the polio vaccine
There is no cure for polio; this can only be prevented.
The first effective vaccine was developed in the 1950s by Jonas Salk, whose inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) was introduced to the public in 1955 and became the cornerstone of the global effort to eradicate the disease.
The polio vaccine, given repeatedly, can protect a child for life.
There are two types of vaccines available: oral polio vaccine (OPV) and IPV.
Both are safe and effective, and they are used in different combinations around the world, depending on local epidemiological factors, to provide the best possible protection to populations, reports the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Polio is part of the routine immunization schedule in Canada and is given to infants as part of a combination vaccine. It is called DTaP-IPV-Hib-HB and protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough (cough), polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and hepatitis B.
Like the IPOL vaccine in the United States, it is also an IPV. The vaccine is usually given in multiple doses during the first years of life to ensure long-lasting protection against the disease.
According to the CDC, The polio vaccine protects against serious illness caused by the poliovirus in almost everyone who has received all recommended doses. Two doses of IPV provide at least 90 percent protection. Three doses of IPV provide at least 99 percent protection. The most common side effect is arm pain after the injection.
“The injected vaccine does not cause any significant side effects,” Dr. Peter Salk, son of Jonas Salk, told Global News.
“On very rare occasions, someone may be allergic to one of the components, one of the antibiotics used to keep things sterile. Otherwise… the drug is actually a safe vaccine,” Salk said.
Emergence of polio feared due to vaccine skepticism
Last week, the Republican leader of the US Senate Mitch McConnellwho had polio as a child, said any nominee of President-elect Donald Trump seeking Senate confirmation should “avoid” efforts to discredit the polio vaccine.
“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven remedies are not only misinformed: they are dangerous,” McConnell said in a statement Friday.
Labs and Salk agreed.
Salk, a professor in the department of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, explained that public fear of serious illnesses has diminished over time as the terrifying effects of the polio have disappeared from memory.
“Polio, whooping cough…are not prevalent at this point because of vaccines. And in the 1950s, parents were terrified of polio. Today, the fear of infectious diseases is no longer at a high level and people are likely to ask, “Why do we want to continue vaccinating our children?” ‘”
“We want to continue vaccinating children because diseases can reappear, as is the case with measles and whooping cough,” he said.
Countries like Canada and the United States have eliminated polio through vaccination efforts, Labos said, and abandoning those efforts could lead to a resurgence of the virus.
Even if the polio vaccine remains widely available, he said, if officials convince enough people not to get vaccinated, polio will make a comeback.
“I’m a little worried because all this anti-vaccine rhetoric has gained momentum in recent years and gained legitimacy because RFK could become the head of HHS. And that’s very, very problematic because we know that vaccines work,” Labos said.
Cases of polio are still appearing in Canada due to international travel, Labos explained. People can contract the virus abroad and bring it back, where it can spread in small pockets, particularly in areas where unvaccinated people live.
However, these outbreaks are manageable because most people are vaccinated, which provides some level of protection.
He warned that if vaccination rates fell below a critical threshold, the population would not have sufficient immunity to prevent widespread transmission and polio could become a constant presence.
“If the number of people vaccinated starts to drop below 80 percent, there is a good chance that we will start to see community spread of polio again,” Labos warned.
— With files from Amanda Connolly of Global News and the Associated Press