Post-polio syndrome is a condition as a result of having had polio earlier in life. There is no indication that post-polio syndrome is contagious. The only time a person is contagious is during acute poliomyelitis. For an authoritative and detailed description of acute poliomyelitis, check out Poliomyelitis at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/polio.pdf

Post-polio syndrome (PPS) is a condition that can develop several decades after you have had polio (poliomyelitis). It affects the muscles and nerves, causing weakness, tiredness, pain, and other symptoms. Only people who have had polio can get PPS, but PPS is not the same illness as polio. Having PPS does not mean that you have developed polio again. Unlike polio, PPS is not contagious.

A diagnosis of post-polio syndrome is based on your medical history—specifically, your experience with polio and how well you recovered from it—and your current symptoms. Lab tests may be used to check for other possible causes of your symptoms. You may require repeated physical exams as symptoms develop.

The polio virus damages the nerves that control muscles. This is what causes muscle weakness in a person who has polio. In people who at least partially recover from polio, the nerves that are still working grow branches that connect to some of the muscles that have lost nerve connections. When this happens, you usually regain at least partial use of that muscle.

It is difficult to predict who will develop symptoms of PPS, when symptoms will begin, and how severe symptoms will be. The exact period of time it takes for symptoms of PPS to develop varies with each individual. Symptoms of PPS may develop as soon as 15 years after you had polio, or they may take more than 50 years to appear (30 years is typical). It is estimated that 25% to 40% of people who had polio during childhood will develop PPS 30 to 40 years later.

Yes. Polio used to happen in international epidemics, with many people being affected with the condition at the same time. The last of these major epidemics took place in the early 1950s, after which time the Salk vaccine was made available, and polio was largely eliminated. People affected with polio showed a wide variety of symptoms, with many having paralysis of the muscle groups of the lower limb, or the respiratory muscles.

PHI compiles an online list of Medical/Clinical Publications about Post-Polio Syndrome and Other Post-Polio Problems.

No. Once the rash of shingles has resolved, the virus is gone. The pain is caused by nerve damage resulting from shingles.

About 40% of women experience PES. It is a result of tissue necrosis from the infarcted myomata. PES is characterized by pain, fever, high white blood cell count, nausea and vomiting. This should be followed closely to distinguish it from a complicating infection.

A: Ichthyosis is definitely not contagious. It is not caused by a bacteria, virus, or germs, and thus it cannot be passed from one person to another.

Post Thrombotic Syndrome (PTS) is a collection of subjective complaints and clinical signs following a thrombotic episode. PTS manifests itself with clinical signs of swelling, dilation of the veins around the ankle bones, pigment changes in the skin of the lower leg along with subjective complaints of spontaneous calf pain and/or pain with standing/walking. The syndrome can present with symptoms ranging from mild severity to excruciating or incapacitating pain and swelling.

Answer: It is a clustering of symptoms that may appear immediately after injury. Often these symptoms, get better with time, usually in 6 weeks following injury. However, they can continue. If they do and are causing problems in your daily living, Coping with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury can help you. Answer: Every brain injury is different. With time most people recover from their injuries.

Polio is an infectious disease caused by the polio virus. The disease can strike at any age, but typically affects children under three. The virus is passed through poor or careless hygiene, entering the body through the mouth, then multiplying inside the throat and the intestines. Once established, the polio virus can enter the bloodstream and invade the central nervous system, spreading along nerve fibers. As it multiplies, the virus destroys the motor neurons that activate muscles.

No, epilepsy is never contagious. You cannot catch epilepsy from someone else and nobody can catch it from you.

In many respects, yes. If you have one on your feet, it would be unwise to pick at it and it can spread to someone else if that person has the potential towards getting that virus in the same way certain people have the potential for catching a certain cold. The wart virus likes to linger around moist environments such as pools, spas, locker rooms, public showers (such as those at the gym). Wearing flip flops or crocs in these areas is always a good idea.

You are most contagious one day before your symptoms start and up to about seven days after their onset. You are most contagious earlier in your illness rather than later.*

No, Ginger Kids are born with Gingervitis. It is hereditary and cannot be contracted in any other way.

Yes. About 1% of the population carries MRSA on the skin – they are considered to be ‘colonized’ with MRSA and are generally asymptomatic. People who are exposed to the organism from a carrier generally do not get sick from it, or develop only mild illnesses (similar to normal staph infections). However, if a minor infection is not cared for, or if there are other factors (e.g., compromised immunity), then the infection may become more serious.

EMS is not a contagious disease. There should not be fears about that. Naturally, chronic diseases such as EMS may have profound effects upon close family members of the sick person and might contribute to feelings of depression, anxiety, problems with children accepting the illness, or other physical and emotional conditions in loved ones. But this occurs with any chronic illness that goes on for many years - which is what a chronic illness is, an ongoing one.

Vitiligo is NOT contagious. If it were, many more people in the world, including doctors who treat vitiligo and family members of those with vitiligo, would have the condition. There are many theories about what causes vitiligo, but many experts believe, and data supports the theory, that one must be genetically susceptible, in order to develop vitiligo.

While the exact cause of the disease is not known, what is known indicates that Parkinson's is not contagious. Parkinson's is a neurological, not a mental, disorder. In the majority of cases, it slows the body, not the mind. However, when brain cells are affected by medication, some emotional changes can be expected. Anxiety and depression are very common among people with Parkinson's and may occur due to seratonin imbalance, a side effect of certain medications.

No, it's important to note that BSE is not a contagious disease; spread occur through the ingestion of infected material, generally brain or spinal cord tissue.

No. Shingles occurs only when the virus that caused chicken pox, which has stayed in the body for many years, becomes active. You cannot get shingles from someone else. You can only get it from the varicella zoster virus in your own body.

Smallpox is less contagious than chickenpox or measles. The great majority of people in a large room will become infected if even only one person has measles, whereas the highest risk for smallpox is face-to face contact, i.e. within 2 meters (6.5 feet). If there is personal protective equipment (fit-tested N-95 masks, gloves, etc.) on you and the patient, the risk of airborne spread becomes very low.

Yes, definitely. But they can't jump from head to head and they can't fly. The only way they can be transmitted is by direct contact (heads touching) or indirect contact (a hat passed around which has been worn by a person with headlice).

Most men who undergo vasectomy have no difficulties but a small group of men develop chronic testicular or epididymal pain after the procedure. This pain can start immediately after surgery and is usually due to a sperm granuloma (inflammation at the vasectomy site) or infection and most cases resolve with the appropriate medical therapy. Occasionally, pain may develop years after the vasectomy and be exacerbated by ejaculation.

Post- pericardiotomy syndrome is an inflammation of the tissues around the heart and is seen after an open-heart operation. Symptoms include fatigue, a sensation of not feeling well, and fever. Blood tests may show an elevated white count or inflammation.