What is polio?
Rotary International: PolioPlusPolio 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.
Related QuestionsUC Davis Children's Hospital: Infectious diseases Â- Frequen...Poliomyelitis—also known as “polio” or “infantile paralysis”—is a serious viral disease that in severe cases can cause permanent paralysis or death. This contagious illness, which is rare in the Western Hemisphere, affects the central nervous system—the brain and the spinal cord. Sometimes the disease causes only mild symptoms resembling those of the flu.Related Questions
EPIC WATER - FAQ: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: MEDICINE, BIOL...Poliomyelitis or polio is an acute viral infection that, in its severe form, invades the nervous system and causes paralysis. In its mild form the disease produces mild symptoms (e.g., low-grade fever, malaise), or none. Also known as infantile paralysis, it is found worldwide, occurring mainly in children. The Salk vaccine (injected killed-virus vaccine) and the Sabin vaccine (oral live-virus vaccine) have greatly reduced the incidence of polio, nearly eradicating it from developed nations.Related Questions
PHI's Frequently Asked QuestionsPolio is the short name for poliomyelitis, a disease caused by a virus. PHI's Handbook on the Late Effects of Poliomyelitis for Physicians and Survivors contains an abbreviated description ? History of Polio. What is poliomyelitis? is an authoritative and extensive description of acute poliomyelitis prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One can find several variations of a basic definition of "post-polio syndrome.Related Questions
Polio Crisis | FAQ on Polio Virus, Polio Vaccine, Polio Hist...quot;Polio is a viral disease. It’s a RNA virus that is transmitted from person to person through fecal-oral transmission." quot;Polio is unique. It can happen only in human beings -- not like malaria, not like diseases that happen in animals. This is truly a human disease. Human beings carry it. That's why we have eradicated smallpox, a similar disease, and we know that we can eradicate polio."Related Questions
What is the requirement for polio?
Immunization Branch, School & Child-Care FAQsFour doses of polio vaccines are required including one dose on or after the fourth birthday. If the third dose was administered on or after the fourth birthday only three doses are required.
Related QuestionsHow is polio transmitted?
Polio Crisis | FAQ on Polio Virus, Polio Vaccine, Polio Hist...quot;Polio is really very much a disease of children. First of all, this is the disease which spreads by what we call the fecal-oral route, so contaminated food or water can spread this disease, and children, of course, are the ones who often are most likely to have the least sanitary of habits and thus most efficiently transmit the virus between themselves. As a result, if you stop transmission of this virus between young children, you will stop transmission in a population.
Related QuestionsWho is affected by polio?
Polio Crisis | FAQ on Polio Virus, Polio Vaccine, Polio Hist...quot;Something like 95 percent of all the people who get polio are under the age of 5. They’re all little people. Some are 4, some are 3, but some are 2 and some are 1, but they’re little people and I say they’re the most defenseless part of society." quot;Over the last two years now, we’ve seen the poliovirus become more and more localized geographically, but also more localized in high risk groups.
Related QuestionsHow can polio be eradicated?
Polio Crisis | FAQ on Polio Virus, Polio Vaccine, Polio Hist...quot;To eradicate a disease like polio, you have to stop the transmission of the wild poliovirus. You do that by immunizing all the children in the world against the disease. You hold National Immunization Days, where children and mothers and fathers come to a center and they get immunized. You also do house-to-house strategy. You go out into the villages or into the communities and you knock on all the doors, and you ask them to bring out the children and immunize those children.
Related QuestionsWhat are the symptoms of polio?
Vaccines: VPD-VAC/Polio/Disease FAQsUp to about 95 percent of people infected with polio have no symptoms. However, infected persons without symptoms can still spread the virus and cause others to develop polio. About four to eight percent of infected persons have minor symptoms such as fever, sore throat, upset stomach, or flu-like symptoms and have no paralysis or other serious symptoms.
Related QuestionsWho should get polio vaccine and when?
NIP: Diseases/Polio/FAQsPolio vaccine or IPV is a shot, given in the leg or arm, depending on age. Polio vaccine may be given at the same time as other vaccines. Most people should get polio vaccine when they are children. Children get 4 doses of IPV, at these ages: Most adults do not need polio vaccine because they were vaccinated as children.
Related QuestionsWhat are the contraindication to Polio vaccination?
Childhood Immunization, Vaccines, Immunization Schedule, Chi...Ans. Contraindication to Polio are very few like immuno compromised host, severe diarrhoea and and acute febrile illness.
Related QuestionsWhat is pulse Polio Immunization?
Childhood Immunization, Vaccines, Immunization Schedule, Chi...Ans. Pulse Polio Immunization means intermittent polio immunization drive inthe community or region to vaccinate all susceptible children irrespective of their previous immunization status. Pulse Polio immunization helps to replace the wild virus (disease causing virus) by vaccine virus in community. Many countries like Brazil, Cuba and Israel have eradicated polio disease by adapting pulse polio approach.
Related QuestionsWhy did Rotary choose polio?
Rotary International: PolioPlusDuring the 1970s, Rotary International began a search to find a global humanitarian program where members could actively participate, not just by fundraising, but by volunteering in their communities and across the world — the cornerstone of Rotary's charter. The answer came in 1979 when Rotary launched a five-year polio immunization program in the Philippines along with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Philippine Ministry of Health.
Related QuestionsIs it only people who have had polio who get post polio syndrome?
Discussion Groups Personal Coaching for Working Mums, People...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.
Related QuestionsWhere can I find out if post-polio syndrome is contagious?
PHI's Frequently Asked QuestionsPost-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
Related QuestionsWhere can I find the number of polio survivors in other countries?
PHI's Frequently Asked QuestionsPHI has received detailed information from the following countries. PHI invites polio-related groups in any country to send their statistics to webmaster@post-polio.org for publication.
Related QuestionsBy when do we expect polio to be eradicated from the world?
Pakistan Polio Eradication - FAQWe are hoping that within the next 6 months we will stop the spread of polio in the Indian Subcontinent including Pakistan. This will depend to a large extent on having a very good immunization campaign. We are hoping that the world will be ready for certification as polio-free by 2005.
Related QuestionsHow does polio paralyze?
Polio Crisis | FAQ on Polio Virus, Polio Vaccine, Polio Hist...quot;If a child somehow ingests the virus, that virus will then reproduce in the child's intestines and then is absorbed in the intestines and travels to the nerve cells in the spinal cord, sometimes even in the brain. It has an affinity to receptors in the spinal cord, and there it does its damage. It decimates nerve cells of the spinal cord and you become paralyzed."
Related QuestionsWhat conditions cause the spread of polio?
Polio Crisis | FAQ on Polio Virus, Polio Vaccine, Polio Hist...quot;The virus is directly related to your exposure of fecal material. So in the developed world, of course, the exposure is much less than in the developing world. If you have no access to clean water you’re at higher risk than if you have access to chlorinated water. But even in the developed world the process of changing diapers can expose you to the virus. So, even things that we consider relatively routine do present a mechanism for transmitting the virus.
Related QuestionsWhy is polio targeted for eradication?
Polio Crisis | FAQ on Polio Virus, Polio Vaccine, Polio Hist...quot;There are some characteristics for a disease to be eradicable, like it infects only human beings so that there is no animal reservoir for that infectious agent. It's transmitted only from person to person without the intervention of a mosquito or the environment. And if you survive after the infection you have immunity forever, so you don't get sick again. And you have a good intervention like a vaccine.
Related QuestionsWhat is the legacy of polio eradication?
Polio Crisis | FAQ on Polio Virus, Polio Vaccine, Polio Hist...quot;I think that maybe the single most important legacy of polio eradication is the end of acceptance of the continued incidence of vaccine preventable diseases in poor countries." quot;When we look at the legacy of polio eradication, I think we have to try to ensure that we do more than eradicate this disease. We have to ensure we reach every child, every community, and eradicate the disease.
Related QuestionsIf a student enrolls with four doses of polio vaccine, all before age 4, is a booster required?
Immunization Branch, School & Child-Care FAQsThis depends on the type of polio vaccine received. If a combination vaccine, including both types of OPV and IPV, was used, then a booster at age four is not required. However, if the series is comprised of all IPV or all OPV, then a booster dose is required. The vaccine requirement for students age seven and older is proof of three doses of a tetanus-diphtheria containing vaccine including one received on or after the fourth birthday.
Related QuestionsWhat is post-polio syndrome?
Quality Health | Post-Polio SyndromePost-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.
Related QuestionsWhat causes post-polio syndrome?
Quality Health | Post-Polio SyndromeThe 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.
Related QuestionsHow is post-polio syndrome diagnosed?
Quality Health | Post-Polio SyndromeA 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.
Related QuestionsWho is at risk for post-polio syndrome?
Quality Health | Post-Polio SyndromeIt 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.
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