Why was there a change in the polio vaccination schedule to the exclusive use of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV)?
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended the exclusive use of IPV in 2000 to eliminate the risk of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) that rarely occurs with the use of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). This policy change was based on the continued occurrence of VAPP with the use of OPV, the absence of indigenous disease in the United States, and the decreased risk of importation of wild poliovirus. Consequently, in 1996 ACIP recommended a transition from an all-OPV immunization schedule to a sequential IPV-OPV vaccination schedule, and in 2000 recommended exclusive use of IPV.
