The guardian. [volume] (Boston, Mass.) 1901-1960, 1955-09-17
Continued From Fac

we are now at the taperlng-
off part of the 1885 polio sea-
son. We have the fall and
winter months and the early
spring to prepare for 1856.
There is no doubt that we
have it in our powre greatly
to reduce polio incidence next
/ year. How we'll we succeed
Will depend largely on how
many children receive vac
/ cine.
First, of course, the vac
cine must be manufactured
and distributed. During the
fan and winter large supplies
will be made available for
use.
/ 1t is too much to hope that
all Of the 100000 people
in the United States can be
Vaccinated before next sum-
mer, but many millions of
children will surely be inoc-
ulated, including almost all in.
the Highly Susceptive five -
through nine4year group.
Since polio attacks more
children than adults, it is by
vaccinating children that the
/ greatest effect en- be achieved,
in terms of preventing cases.
of paralytic polio.
Fever parent naturally has
questions about vaccine. Fore
most Is the question: Is the
vaccine safe? The answer to
this is yes. Last spring, &C
cording 10 q U. S. Public
Health Service Service report
live virus was found in a
small amount OF vaccine that.
had been released. More
stringent government safety
standards were promptl- es-
tablished to prevent a recur-
renee of this incident.
The difficulties of a single
manufacturer do not, of
course, reflect on the safety
of all commercially produced
vaccine, any more than the
Existence Of one contaminated
source of water suggests that
water is unsafe.
During the summer there
have been suggestions that a
single shot of the vaccine
might give some protection
against paralytic polio, and so
parents may wonder if such
an injection is not enough
The answer is that it is not
enough for full and lasting
protection.
Here is what happens when
a child is given vaccine, Some
seven to 10 days after his
first shot he begins to develop
| polio fighting antibodies.
These help strengthen his de-
lenses against paralytic polio
When he receives his second
shot, the number Of antibodies
again rises. Then, approx
mately seven months later
when he receives his third
shot, there is a further rise
in antibodies, and he then
has full protection of the
vaccine.
Thus, the child with one
shot has some help in defend
ing himself against paralytiC
polio. The child with two
has even more help. The
child with three properly
spaced, as the full protection
of the vaccine.
The body tries to defend
itself against paralytic polio
even without vaccine. What
the vaccine does is bolster
natural defenseS.
Everyone would like to
know how long the effect OF
vaccine lasts. And no one can
give a hard and fast answer,
because we have not had the
. vaccine very long. A number
of children who have received
it will be followed through
the years until we do know
how long it protects.
However, because the level
Of protection after the third
shot is so high, there is rea-
son to hope that it will last
for many years.
The third shot is in a sense
the real key to. the effective
ness of the vaccine. This is
why we will look with grow
ing interest toward the 1856
polio season. BY that time
, YOUNGSTERS should have re-
ceived their complete series
of injections to make a sub
stantial difference in the ma
tionWide polio rate, Then we
will be able to look forward
to final control of polio with
MmNLM AR m@ EWRhl