Re: Did you read any of these findings?

Lancet 338: 715, 1991. The author cites this article to claim that polio vaccine is ineffective. He says, "In 1989, the country of Oman experienced a widespread polio outbreak six months after achieving complete vaccination." This is clearly untrue. If you will examine the article, you'll discover:

* The epidemic actually began in January, 1988. Because of immunization, Oman had experienced a dramatic drop in its incidence of polio in the early 1980's. However, there was only 88% coverage by 1987, just before the epidemic began.

* In October through December, 1988, the government undertook an aggressive immunization program, and the epidemic stopped ended in March, 1989. This is apparently where the anti-immunization activist got the six-months business. But there is nothing in the article to indicate that complete immunization was ever achieved before, during, or after the epidemic.

* The vaccine mostly did what it was supposed to do, protecting most of the children from paralysis. "A primary series of OPV (3 doses) reduced the risk of paralysis by 91% (adjusted estimate); two doses reduced the risk by 80%."

* The authors suggested that because sanitation is so poor in the affected areas, the large inoculum of the wild virus was sufficient to overcome the vaccine-induced immunity. They specifically note that in industrialized countries, the vaccine is statistically much more effective.

* The article would make most parents in Oman want to be certain that their children were fully immunized with the oral polio vaccine.


from
http://www.pathguy.com/antiimmu.htm