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Do you need a polio booster?

TNVFL

Knowing how much we travel internationally, a friend told us we might want to consider getting a polio booster! I said we both have all of our shots but she told me the CDC is encouraging fully vaccinated people to get a booster for international travelers! I spoke with my doctor and she agreed. Even if your destination is not on the list of countries, you could come into contact with someone who has this highly contagious disease just connecting through Heathrow on the trams and shuttles. Also, Medicare completely covered the cost! https://www.vaccineadvisor.com/news/going-abroad-cdc-warns-travelers-about-polio-risk-in-several-countries/

Comments

MikeHenderson

Thanks for the information.

[I just looked up the CDC recommendations. It says it's only recommended if you are traveling to a country with high polio transmission. I don't know what countries fall into that.]

BKMD

Given that CDC/HHS is now run by a crackpot and conspiracy theorist, it may be prudent to see what some European health agencies say about this (and other vaccine issues).

kfnknfzk

Try the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), an excellent resource for European Union (EU) nations. They are based in Stockholm, Sweden. Each autonomous EU member makes their own vaccination schedules.

I have no relationship with them. I merely find them to be an excellent resource.

British

I also look at the UK site. It is much easier to understand.
Don’t forget you can get the TDAP. It includes tetanus which you get every ten years so it’s the best way to go.

MikeHenderson

Don’t forget you can get the TDAP. It includes tetanus which you get every ten years so it’s the best way to go.

This is what I do. I do a lot of yard work and woodwork so I seem to always have cuts on my hands, I make sure I'm up to date on Tetanus.

R_from_S

What people recently saw in the news about polio risks was a case of media misinterpretation, not a new travel warning.

The CDC has maintained a global polio notice since 2022. This is a notice (not a warning), which is an important distinction. A notice is meant to provide information to promote safe and healthy travel, not to discourage travel to a destination.

The recent media frenzy was triggered by a fairly mundane internal fix: someone at the CDC noticed a discrepancy between the list of countries named in the notice and the countries shaded on the accompanying world map. When they corrected that mismatch, the page got a new date stamp, and the media interpreted that timestamp as a brand-new advisory. It wasn’t.

SGF

I just had my annual physical and my PCP recommended the polio vaccine, so I got it. It's over 60 yrs. since my last one. Didn't seem to be a reason not to - a little soreness at the injection site, but otherwise, no reaction.

TravellinTracey

You can have a blood test to see if you still have polio antibodies. I got the live vaccine the last year they gave it, which was a very long time ago!, and I still have antibodies.

British

Why not just get the vaccine rather than pay for a test.

sudhamali

Last year in preparation for our travel to Africa : Kenya,Tanzania and Rwanda,we were recommended polio booster as there was a resurgence of polio in parts of these countries.No side effects at all.We did go to that Passport clinic because that was the place convenient for us to get yellow fever vaccine as well.