Polio Vaccinations for Travelers
The CDC has updated its recommendations on polio vaccination for travelers in light of the World Health Organization's recent declaration of polio as a public health emergency of international concern.
The CDC recommends that people planning to travel to a country with active wild poliovirus receive the inactivated poliovirus (IPV) booster. Travelers should document proof of immunization in the yellow International Certificate of Vaccination to avoid travel delays. The U.S. is not planning to change its requirements for U.S. entry.
In its declaration, the WHO noted that 10 countries have ongoing poliovirus transmission:
Cameroon, Pakistan, and Syria have recently exported wild poliovirus. Residents and people traveling to these countries for more than 4 weeks are required to receive IPV or oral polio vaccine 4 to 52 weeks before departing to these countries.
Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Somalia, and Nigeria are infected with poliovirus but have not yet exported it. Residents and long-term travelers to these countries are encouraged to get boosters.
- See more at: http://www.jwatch.org/fw108902/2014/06/04/given-public-health-emergency-cdc-recommends-polio?query=pfwRS#sthash.j1mJcyDz.dpuf
