Usual symptoms

• Most people who have polio don’t have any symptoms.
• Polio can cause headaches, upset tummy, tiredness, and stiff neck or back. It can also cause paralysis that usually only affects one side of the body, which is called paralytic polio.

Common symptoms

• Polio can cause a brain infection called meningitis. Most people who get polio-meningitis also experience paralytic polio.  
• Between 2 and 5 per cent of people who get paralytic polio will die.
• Many people who survive paralytic polio are permanently paralysed.

In Australia, children receive a combined vaccine (also called ‘hexavalent’) which strengthens immunity to polio, as well as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hib , and hepatitis B.

It is recommended that children get a vaccine that protects against polio at two months, four months, six months and four years.

It is important that children get all their vaccinations on time to ensure they have the  best possible protection against infectious diseases.

No, there is no risk that your child will catch polio because the vaccine does not contain the live virus that causes the disease. Instead, it contains inactive parts of the polio virus that can train your child’s immune system to recognise and fight the infection.

• Up to 33 per cent of children who have vaccines that protect against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), Hib or polio experience redness at the injection site that lasts up to a few days.
• About 10 to 13 per cent of people who have vaccines that protect against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), Hib, polio, or hepatitis B experience mild swelling or pain at the injection site that lasts one or two days. 
• Up to 20 per cent of children who have vaccines that protect against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), Hib or polio develop a mild fever that lasts one or two days.  
• About 5 to 10 per cent of babies who have vaccines that protect against polio experience decreased appetite.
• About 2 per cent of people who get booster doses of a vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) get a sore red, swollen arm. The swelling starts in the first two days after vaccination. It lasts for one to seven days and then gets better.
• About 1 per cent of children who have a vaccine that protects against polio get a hard lump at the injection site that lasts a few days or weeks. 

• Babies who get a fever (for any reason) occasionally experience a fit (febrile convulsion) that lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes. Febrile convulsions don’t have any long-term effects on a child’s health or development.
• Some people who get vaccines that protect against hepatitis B experience nausea or aches in their muscles or joints in the days afterwards.
• About 0.0032 per cent of children aged 12 months or under who get a vaccine that protects against pertussis (whooping cough) experience hypotonic-hyporesponsive episodes (HHE). These children get very pale, go limp, and don’t respond to their surroundings. Their lips and fingernails can also turn blue. Most reactions last less than 30 minutes and can occur anytime from vaccination up to about 48 hours after vaccination.² HHEs don’t have any long-term effects on children’s health.
• About 0.0001 per cent of people have an allergic reaction following vaccination  that affects their whole body, called anaphylaxis. This reaction usually happens within 15 minutes of getting the vaccination and can be treated with an injection of adrenaline. People who have this reaction usually recover quickly and don’t experience any long-term effects.

Polio rates began to decline significantly when mass vaccination commenced in 1956 and has since been eradicated from Australia.^3,4