bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine

medicine

Also known as: bOPV

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 22, 2026

Quick Summary

The bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (bOPV) is a type of polio vaccine that targets two of the three poliovirus serotypes (PV1 and PV3). It is administered orally and contains live, weakened poliovirus strains. Developed in the early 2000s after PV2 was no longer circulating, bOPV was found to be effective in reducing polio cases in endemic countries and has been used in vaccination campaigns. While effective, oral poliovirus vaccines (OPV) carry a rare risk of causing vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) or vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP). Consequently, many high-income countries have transitioned to the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV), which does not carry these risks.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

polio vaccine
Poliovirus serotypes
…the disease was endemic, a bivalent oral vaccine, or bOPV, targeting PV1 and PV3 was developed. In the first decade of the 21st century, this vaccine was found to be more effective than either mOPV or tOPV in reducing the number of cases in polio-endemic countries. Today, especially in areas…
Read More
…the disease was endemic, a bivalent oral vaccine, or bOPV, targeting PV1 and PV3 was developed. In the first decade of the 21st century, this vaccine was found to be more effective than either mOPV or tOPV in reducing the number of cases in polio-endemic countries. Today, especially in areas…
Read More