Mutant Strains Of Polio Vaccine Now Cause More Paralysis Than Wild Polio
So far this year, there have been only six cases of wild polio — and 21 cases of vaccine-derived polio, most of them in Syria.
by Jason Beaubien
Jun 28, 2017
4 minutes
For the first time, the number of children paralyzed by mutant strains of the polio vaccine are greater than the number of kids paralyzed by polio itself.
So far in 2017, there have been only six cases of "wild" polio reported anywhere in the world. By "wild" public health officials mean the disease caused by polio virus found naturally in the environment.
By contrast, there have been 21 cases of vaccine-derived polio this year. These cases look remarkably similar to regular polio. But laboratory tests show they're caused by remnants of the oral polio vaccine that have gotten loose in the environment, mutated and regained their ability to paralyze unvaccinated children
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