Role of provocation poliomyelitis in vaccine-associated poliomyelitis.

The impact of different vaccine administrations in the Federal Republic of Germany, in relation to vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) was studied. (This only means that on the basis of the temporal relation of vaccination and onset, the vaccine cannot be ruled out as possible cause). Oral polio vaccine (OPV) was given between 1963 and 1977 only and recommended simultaneously with inactivated vaccines (DT/DPT) between 1980 and 1985. In the first period 10 VAPP cases occurred among 9.96 million estimated vaccinees aged under 2 years. In the second period 6 cases of provocation poliomyelitis (PRP) were found among 2.9 million estimated OPV/DT/DPT vaccinees of the same age group. Statistically the VAPP/PRP frequencies in the two periods studied did not achieve significance.