Oral Polio Vaccine

The oral polio vaccine (OPV) is a live attenuated vaccine containing a mixture of one or more strains of poliovirus serotypes. Strains of the virus are selected based on their reduced incidence of spreading to the central nervous system but still having the ability to mimic the immune response that occurs after infection with the wild poliovirus. The vaccine is created by weakening the wildtype before being placed into the oral vaccine. After administration, OPV strains extensively multiply in the intestinal tract, becoming widely spread in the community to immunize a sizable proportion of those unvaccinated in the population. With administration, this vaccine prevents cases of paralytic poliomyelitis. The polio vaccine can be either administered in the inactivated form or the oral form, although both series comprises 4 doses and is also interchangeable in administration form so long all as 4 doses are completed.