Polio booster vaccination - NHS North East London (2024)

FAQs

Polio booster vaccination - NHS North East London? ›

The extra polio booster offer in London is paused. Information on the future of the programme will be made available soon. All children remain eligible for their routine polio vaccinations and these continue to be available from your GP.

You'll usually be contacted by your GP surgery when your child is due for a routine vaccination. This could be a letter, text, phone call or email. If you know your child is due for a vaccination, you can speak to your GP surgery to book the appointment. You do not need to wait to hear from them.

The polio vaccine is offered as part of the NHS routine childhood immunisation programme. It's given in 5 separate doses: at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age – as part of the 6-in-1 (DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB) vaccine. at 3 years and 4 months of age – as part of the 4-in-1 (DTaP/IPV) pre-school booster.

Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is recommended and funded under the National Immunisation Program as a primary schedule of 3 doses at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. A booster dose is recommended at 4 years of age. Unvaccinated adults are recommended a schedule of 3 doses at 1–2 month intervals.

Everyone should receive a minimum of 5 doses of a polio-containing vaccine to have good long-term protection. This should be documented in your medical notes held by your General practitioner. You can receive booster doses of polio-containing vaccines if you have not had all 5 doses.

Most adults don't need polio vaccine because they were already vaccinated as kids, but three groups of adults are at higher risk and should consider polio vaccination: People who travel to areas of the world where polio is common. Lab workers who might handle poliovirus.

If you have never been vaccinated against polio you should get three doses of IPV: The first dose at any time. The second dose 1 to 2 months later. The third dose 6 to 12 months after the second.

Boosters: How long does the Polio, Tetanus, and Diphtheria vaccine last? The vaccine protects you for 10 years. You will need a booster to remain protected after 10 years.

Yes, the polio vaccine provides lifelong immunity. Therefore, no testing is recommended to confirm prior vaccination, even if documentation of prior vaccination cannot be located and no booster dose is recommended.

Do you need to boost polio vaccine? ›

Adults previously immunized with polio vaccine: for those at increased risk of exposure to polio (e.g., those travelling to, or planning to work in areas that have wild polio or vaccine-derived polio outbreaks), a single lifetime booster dose of IPV-containing vaccine is recommended.

IPV may cause mild fever, and soreness and redness where the shot was given for several days. Check with your doctor to see if you can give either acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain or fever and to find out the right dose.

Descriptions. Diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis vaccine (also known as DTaP) combined with inactivated poliovirus vaccine (also known as IPV) is a combination vaccine that is given to protect against infections caused by diphtheria, tetanus (lockjaw), pertussis (whooping cough), and poliovirus.

The Td/IPV vaccine (also called the 3-in-1 teenage booster) helps protect against tetanus, diphtheria and polio. It's recommended for children in school year 9 and people at higher risk of these illnesses.

The UK switched from using OPV to IPV (which contains inactivated (killed) virus) in 2004, the year after poliovirus was declared eradicated in the WHO European region.

The oral polio vaccine is simple to administer. A few drops, given multiple times, can protect a child for life. © WHO/Rod Curtis. The oral polio vaccine (OPV) is safe and extremely effective, and the most common kind of vaccine used in the fight to eradicate polio.

Both polio vaccine and vaccination certificate can be readily obtained from District Health Offices, even in emergency situations. Additionally, designated polio vaccination counters at international airports are offering these services to travelers in need of polio vaccination and certification.

IPV Immunization Schedule

Children usually get the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) at ages 2 months, 4 months, 6–18 months, and 4–6 years. Sometimes IPV is given in a combination vaccine along with other vaccines. In this case, a child might receive a fifth dose of IPV. This is safe.

DTaP-IPV or Tdap-IPV vaccine should be used as the booster dose for children at 4 to 6 years of age. Children 7 years of age and older should receive IPV vaccine or the adolescent/adult formulation of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-polio-containing vaccine (Tdap-IPV).