I did...in a sugar cube I believe.
If you don't have the big polio needle scar on your upper arm then you had the oral.
quote:
Originally posted by krazykt1:
I thought the scar was from the smallpox vaccine. I had the sugar cube for polio. kt
THATS CORRECT!!!
I didn't know that the Polio vaccine came in the shot form...I believe that you are mistaken. I'm 53 and was in the very first wave of receipients of the Polio vaccine.
I even had class members that were effected by Polio before the vaccine came out.
For sure, the little scar on your arm is from the Small Pox vaccine.
Rosemary
Here is the scoop but my point was to see if the live oral vaccine given to so many of us in childhood had any influence on our ability to fend off some bacterial infections:
The Salk and Sabin Vaccines Today
The Salk vaccine is given in two intramuscular injections spaced one month apart and requires boosters every 5 years. Because of the way it is inactivated, the vaccine is safe for those with compromised (weakened) immune systems.
Polio immunization at Cutter Lab. Berkeley, CA, 1955.
Photo by March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, 1996.
The Sabin oral vaccine is given in 3 doses in the first two years of life, and a booster is given when the child starts school. Further boosters are not given unless the patient is exposed to polio or will be traveling to an endemic region. The advantages of a live, oral vaccine are its long-lasting immunity, the prevention of reinfection of the digestive tract, and the lower cost of administering the vaccine orally because sterile syringes and needles are not necessary. However, a major disadvantage is that it cannot be used for patients with compromised immune systems because it is a live virus and can cause disease in these patients. It also cannot be used by those in close contact with immunocompromised patients because the live virus in the vaccine can be shed in the feces of those who ingest it, and can possibly be transmitted to the immunocompromised patient. Another disadvantage of the Sabin oral vaccine is that those who have an enterovirus infection of the gastrointestinal tract when taking the oral vaccine may not develop the immune response. Clearly, both vaccines have their advantages and disadvantages with regard to relative safety and cost.
This makes me wonder if a child had had any infection at the time, like a cold or flu, and the live vaccine was administered, would it possibly affect the immune system over the long term.
One thing I notice with a lot of lymies is that they have felt 'not right' for so many years of their life even before lyme was diagnosed.
[This message has been edited by edvardo (edited 05 September 2004).]
[This message has been edited by edvardo (edited 05 September 2004).]