842 - Polio and the Polio Vaccine

Public Health On Call

About this episode:

Thanks to vaccines, most people under a certain age have no memory of the devastation and terror caused by the poliovirus. Although widely eliminated, polio still poses a threat in certain countries around the world. Waning vaccination rates in pockets of the U.S. mean some communities are at risk of a resurgence. In this episode: a look back at polio before vaccines, and how technology has evolved—including a discussion about a previous version of the vaccine that did, in rare instances, actually cause paralytic polio.

Guest:

Dr. Bill Moss is the executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Host:

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

• How Lagging Vaccination Could Lead to a Polio Resurgence—The New York Times

• The Polio Outbreak and What Needs to be Done to Eradicate the Virus Globally—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

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