Low oral poliovirus vaccine immunogenicity in developing countries

Much of the success in the effort to eradicate polio is due to the use of oral poliovirus vaccine. Advantages of oral poliovirus vaccine include low cost, ease of administration, and induction of personal protection against paralytic disease. Importantly, oral poliovirus vaccine induces mucosal immunity, thereby reducing transmissibility of wild viruses through the community should vaccinees be exposed to such viruses. However, the immunogenicity of oral poliovirus vaccine per dose in developing countries is substantially less than in industrialised countries, requiring administration of more doses in poorer countries compared with richer countries to reach levels of herd immunity needed to terminate poliovirus transmission.