A second case of a relative contracting polio from a recently vaccinated child has followed within two month of the first.

In the latest case, a 30 year old father from Bournemouth became partly paralyzed with polio after coming into contact with his baby's soiled nappy days after the child received the oral polio vaccination.

This follows a similar incident in which a 48 year old man from Southampton suffered total paralysis after changingthe nappy of his recently vaccinated niece.

Although British doctors described the probability of contracting "contact" polio from the vaccinated as a one in three million risk, WDDTY has discovered that the risk is substantially higher.

In England and America, virtually the only cases of polio occurring several dozen per year are caused by the vaccine itself, either in its recipients or those the recipient has recently come in contact with.

Most at risk are those whose immunity is in some way compromised, such as patients on steroids or other immunosuppressant drugs.

One German study published in the Lancet put the risk of contact polio at one case per 200,000 a risk that multiples 10 times among the immunocompromised.

WDDTY has further information about the risks of contact polio in The Vaccine Handbook, available for £4.95 st our address.