Overview

Polio will cause flu-like symptoms in about 25% of people who become infected. A smaller portion of people with the polio will develop serious symptoms that affect the brain and spinal cord such as meningitis and paralysis. Around 2–10 out of 100 people who have paralysis from poliovirus infection die because the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe.

Polio can cause post-polio syndrome (PPS) is a condition that can affect polio survivors decades after they recover from their initial poliovirus infection. PPS affects between 25 and 40 out of every 100 polio survivors. 

Due to the vaccine, polio has been declared eradicated from the U.S.

The Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is the only polio vaccine that has been given in the United States since 2000 and is given as injection. The oral polio vaccine (OPV) is no longer given in the U.S., but is still given in other countries.

Childhood Recommendations

Children should get four doses of the polio vaccine at ages:

  • 2 months
  • 4 months
  • 6–18 months
  • 4–6 years

Adult recommendations

Most adults don’t need polio vaccination if they were vaccinated as children.

Adults at high risk should consider vaccination. Those people include:

  • People traveling to certain parts of the world
  • Laboratory workers who might handle poliovirus
  • Healthcare workers treating patients who could have polio
  • Unvaccinated people whose children will be receiving oral poliovirus vaccine. These children may be international adoptees or refugees, for example. The oral polio vaccine is not given in the U.S.

Unvaccinated adults should get three doses of polio vaccine.

Immunization schedules

Childhood schedules: 

Adult schedule:

Additional information about the chickenpox vaccine

Polio Vaccine Information Statement

CDC’s Polio main page