August 26 marks the 118th birthday of Albert Sabin, the creator of the polio vaccine. According to a recent survey by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, polio remains one of the most significant threats to children's health in the eyes of parents. WHO estimates that Sabin, a Russian-born American virologist who made the discovery in the early 1960s, has prevented approximately 500,000 deaths and saved 5 million people from disability. Soviet virologist Mikhail Chumakov later used Sabin's weakened strains of the virus to create a live oral vaccine that played a crucial role in halting the spread of polio in our country and other parts of the world, including the successful elimination of major outbreaks in Eastern Europe and Japan.

Poliomyelitis is incurable and can only be prevented through vaccination. Several doses of the vaccine can help build lifelong immunity in a child, protecting them from the potentially fatal consequences of the disease. According to UNICEF, more than 20 million people around the world are able to walk today thanks to vaccination. Due to high childhood vaccination rates, Russia has been polio-free since 2002. However, with globalization, the risk of infection remains as long as polio-endemic countries exist. Currently, these countries are Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The threat of polio and its consequences is recognized not only by health professionals but also by parents. In a survey on attitudes toward child vaccination conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Center in May this year, Russian parents ranked polio as the second most dangerous infectious disease after meningitis. As the largest vaccine company in the Russian Federation and a socially responsible manufacturer, Nanolek is committed to ensuring that polio vaccinations are accessible to Russian children. In 2017, Nanolek became the first company to localize the production of inactivated polio vaccine in Russia, using Salk strains.

Today, in collaboration with the Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immunobiological Drugs named after M. P. Chumakov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Nanolek produces a vaccine based on Sabin strains. Additionally, our biomedical complex manufactures a combined vaccine that protects against five dangerous infections, including inactivated poliovirus types 1, 2, and 3. Polio prevention vaccines are provided to Russian children free of charge as part of the national preventive vaccination schedule.

Nanolek closely monitors global trends in healthcare and vaccine prevention. Arina Privalova, the company’s Director of Strategic Development, discussed current trends in polio vaccine prophylaxis:

“There are two types of vaccines used worldwide for polio prevention: oral vaccines in the form of drops and inactivated vaccines administered by injection. Vaccines based on Sabin strains are considered the safest, with the fewest side effects. Depending on the epidemiological situation in a country and the level of vaccination coverage, WHO recommends different vaccination schedules. The basic recommended schedule is three doses of oral vaccine followed by two doses of inactivated vaccine. In countries with a favorable polio epidemiologic situation, vaccination can start with two doses of inactivated vaccine, followed by at least two doses of oral vaccine. This approach has been shown to provide a high level of protection against infection and to significantly reduce the risk of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis. Polio-free countries, like Russia, and those with a low risk of importation can opt for a schedule that involves administering only the inactivated vaccine. All types of polio vaccines are available in the Russian Federation, including both inactivated and oral vaccines, containing either wild or Sabin strains, particularly Nanolek’s vaccines, which include inactivated poliovirus types 1, 2, and 3.”

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Poliomyelitis is a dangerous viral disease. The virus is primarily transmitted from person to person through the fecal-oral route and multiplies in the intestines. Children under the age of 5 are at high risk. According to WHO, polio affects the nervous system and can cause complete paralysis in a short period of time. Approximately one in 200 infected individuals develops irreversible paralysis. In 5-10% of cases, the disease leads to death due to paralysis of the respiratory muscles. In the Russian Federation, vaccination against poliomyelitis is conducted according to the national preventive vaccination schedule as follows: inactivated polio vaccine is administered at 3 months, 4.5 months, and 6 months. Revaccination is performed at 18 months with the inactivated vaccine, and at 20 months and 6 years with the oral polio vaccine.