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Who is at
risk for polio?
Polio is
most common in infants and young children, but complications
occur most often in older persons.
What
complications can result from polio?
Complications include paralysis, most commonly of the legs.
Paralysis of the muscles that control breathing and swallowing
can be fatal.
In very
rare cases, the oral vaccine used to prevent polio can cause
polio paralysis in persons who are vaccinated (1 in every 8.1
million doses) and in people who are close contacts of a
vaccinated person (1 in every 5 million doses). About 8 to 9
cases of paralytic polio caused by the oral vaccine have been
reported in the United States yearly.
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