Photos

Children in India Greet CDC Polio Team (2000)

This 2000 photograph depicted a group of children who were residents of one of the towns into which the Stop Transmission of Polio (Stop) team members entered during their rounds through the country of India, as they immunized the inhabitants. Children were frequently the first to greet visitors in the rural areas, with older brothers and sisters often accompanied by their younger siblings. This was one of a number of images provided by Chris Zahniser, B.S.N., R.N., M.P.H., a STOP Transmission of Polio (STOP) immunization initiative team member and photographer, who was assigned to the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India, and spent three months working in the Districts of Gorakhpur and Deoria. There are two kinds of polio vaccine: IPV, which is a shot given in the leg or arm, depending on age, which is recommended in the United States today, and a live, oral polio vaccine, or OPV, which is drops that are swallowed. IPV may be given at the same time as other vaccines. With regards as to who should receive the polio vaccine, and when, the following are the recommended protocols: Children: Most people should receive a polio vaccine when they are children. Children get 4 doses of IPV, at these ages: - A dose at 2 months - A dose at 6-18 months - A dose at 4 months - A booster dose at 4-6 years Adults (unvaccinated): ((Without a written record of prior polio vaccination) at increased risk of exposure to poliomyelitis, primary immunization with IPV is recommended.) - The recommended schedule is two doses separated by 1â??2 months - a third dose given 6â??12 months after the second dose.