Polio Risk: Understanding the Impact of Grandfather's History & Vaccine Effectiveness

The chances of getting a child with polio if the husband's father is affected are very low, as the polio vaccine is highly effective in preventing the disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the polio vaccine is 99%–100% effective at preventing paralytic poliomyelitis, the most severe form of polio. Furthermore, the polio vaccine has been widely available in most countries for several decades, so it is unlikely that the husband's father would have been infected with polio if he lives in a country with a high vaccination rate. Additionally, polio is transmitted through contact with the stool of an infected person, so unless the husband's father is actively shedding the virus, the risk of transmission to his children would be very low.