poliovirus vaccine, a vaccine prepared from poliovirus to confer immunity to it. The inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) is a suspension of three strains of polioviruses that have been inactivated in formalin so that normal activity of the organisms has been destroyed. IPV is given subcutaneously at 2 mo, 4 mo, between 6 and 18 mo, and between 4 and 6 yr, and is the form of vaccination recommended in the United States. A trivalent live oral form of vaccine, TOPV, rarely causes vaccine-associated paralysis after administration. This reaction has not occurred with IPV and is the reason that use of TOPV is being discontinued in the United States. TOPV is, nevertheless, the treatment of choice in areas of the world where polio is still endemic. Also called poliomyelitis vaccine; Salk vaccine; poliovirus vaccine, inactivated.
