Vaccine-associated polio reported in US traveler

Last Updated: 2006-02-07 15:30:36 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a new report, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta describe what appears to be the first case of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis in a US adult who traveled abroad.

Although polio is rare in the US, it is endemic in other parts of the world and for this reason, vaccination is recommended for residents traveling to at risk areas, the researchers note in the February 2nd issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The present case involves a young, unvaccinated woman from Arizona who traveled to Central and South America in early 2005 as part of a study-abroad program. She appears to have become infected with poliovirus through exposure to her host family's infant grandson who had recently been given a live, attenuated oral polio vaccine (OPV).

The women experienced fever, general malaise, and progressive muscle weakness. Her condition worsened and she was eventually admitted to the hospital and intubated for respiratory failure. Testing revealed infection with Sabin-strain poliovirus and although the patient eventually recovered, she still had some weakness in the legs 60 days after disease onset.

"Healthcare providers assessing vaccine needs for unvaccinated adults traveling to countries that use OPV should be aware of the risk that OPV might pose to such travelers and should consider offering them polio vaccination," the report suggests.

Mor Mortal Wkly Rep CDC Surveill Summ 2006;55:97-99.