Q: My daughter is 1 year old. We had been giving her oral polio drops as per the immunisation schedule and the pulse polio programme too. I came to know about polio vaccine injection. Some people say that oral polio vaccine is not as effective as the injection. Do we need to give our daughter injections as well? What is the schedule and the brand name? Is our daughter at risk of polio?

A:Yes, under some conditions the injectable vaccine may be superior to oral polio vaccine (OPV). However, if you have given all the doses of OPV, your child should be reasonably well-protected and only oral polio drops at 18 months, 5 years and with pulse polio will be required.