Information on polio and it’s causes
Polio is a serious disease caused by a virus called the poliovirus. The full medical name for the disease is poliomyelitis. In its severest form, polio causes paralysis of the muscles of the legs, arms, and respiratory (breathing) system.
Polio is a contagious viral illness. In its most severe form, polio causes paralysis, difficulty breathing and sometimes death.
During the first half of the 20th century, no illness inspired more dread and panic in the United States than did polio. Sometimes called infantile paralysis, polio struck in the U.S. every summer and fall with virulent epidemics. In 1952, when the polio epidemic was at its peak, 3,000 people died.
It is caused by a particular type of virus known as an enterovirus. An enterovirus is a type of virus which grows and thrives in the gastrointestinal tract (the system of organs which help digest food, such as the intestines and stomach). After growing in the gastrointestinal tract, an enterovirus will often.
Although most of the world’s countries are free from polio, this condition still exists in parts of Africa and south Asia. In particular, it is found in areas where water treatment and sanitation facilities are not properly maintained or non-existent. Although children under three years of age represent more than half of all cases, polio can affect people of any age.
Polio is very contagious. When a person is infected with poliovirus, the virus resides in the intestinal tract and mucus in the nose and throat. Poliovirus is usually spread through contact with stool of the infected person (known as fecal-oral transmission). Less frequently, poliovirus is spread through contact with infected respiratory secretions or saliva (oral-oral transmission).
Following polio transmission, a person does not become immediately sick. A person who is infected with polio can spread polio about 7-10 days before symptoms begin.
There is no polio treatment that can kill the poliovirus. Antibiotics or other medications for polio are not effective because polio is caused by a virus. Therefore, polio treatment focuses on providing relief of symptoms as the body fights the poliovirus. This is called supportive care.
There are many symptoms of polio and not everyone will experience all of the symptoms. They symptoms vary according to the type of polio the individual has. In mild polio, some of the symptoms are: headache, nausea, vomiting, general discomfort or a slight fever for up to three days. In nonparalytic polio (aseptic meningitis): the symptoms are similar to mild cases, with the addition of moderate fever, stiff neck and back, fatigue and muscle pain.
Because no drug developed so far has proven effective, treatment is entirely symptomatic. Moist heat is coupled with physical therapy to stimulate the muscles and antispasmodic drugs are given to produce muscular relaxation.
The use of live oral poliomyelitis vaccine (OPV) has led to the elimination of poliomyelitis disease in many countries since licensure in 1960. The discovery of an increased risk of an intestinal obstruction known as intussusception following live rotavirus vaccination raised questions about the possibility of a link between live OPV and intussusception.
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