sabin

Sabin is a surname and given name used by various people and, less commonly, by organizations or works named for individuals bearing the name. The most prominent reference is to Albert B. Sabin, a Polish-born American physician and medical researcher.

Albert Baily Sabin (1906–1993) developed the oral polio vaccine, commonly known as the Sabin vaccine. He conducted large-scale field trials in the 1950s and 1960s demonstrating the vaccine’s efficacy and safety. The Sabin vaccine uses live attenuated strains of poliovirus and is administered orally, in contrast to the injectable vaccine developed by Salk. The introduction of the oral polio vaccine contributed significantly to the global decline of poliomyelitis and reshaped public health strategies for controlling infectious diseases.

The Sabin vaccine's use offered practical advantages, including ease of administration and strong herd immunity through intestinal immunity. However, in populations with insufficient vaccination coverage, rare cases of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis or circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus can occur. This risk has prompted many countries to transition to inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) for routine immunization, while maintaining OPV for outbreak control in appropriate settings.

Beyond Albert Sabin, the surname appears in various fields, including science, medicine, and the arts, reflecting its presence across different cultures and professions.