Polio (IPV)

All children, travelers to areas with active polio transmission.

Pregnancy: Safe.

IPV (inactivated poliovirus vaccine) is safe during pregnancy.

• Can be administered if the pregnant woman is at risk of polio exposure (travel to endemic areas: Afghanistan, Pakistan).

• No teratogenic effects observed.

• Pregnant women who need polio vaccination should receive IPV, never OPV.

Breastfeeding: Safe — no restrictions.

IPV is an inactivated vaccine and is completely safe during breastfeeding. No modification to breastfeeding schedule required.

Pediatric use:

• Part of routine childhood immunization schedule worldwide.

• Schedule (US/ACIP): 4 doses at 2, 4, 6–18 months, 4–6 years. Often given as part of combination vaccines (hexavalent: DTaP-IPV-Hib-HepB).

• Minimum age: 6 weeks.

• IPV does not cause vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) — this risk exists only with OPV.

• Immunocompromised children must receive IPV (never OPV).

• Dose: 0.5 mL IM or SC (all ages).

Geriatric use:

• Adults with a completed primary series need only 1 lifetime booster if traveling to polio-endemic areas.

• Unvaccinated adults: 3-dose series (0, 1–2, 6–12 months).

• No upper age limit. No dose adjustment required.

• Polio eradication is near-complete — endemic transmission persists only in Afghanistan and Pakistan (as of 2024).