Poliomyelitis is a viral disease that can affect nerves and can lead to partial or full paralysis.
Cause incidence, and risk factors
Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. The virus spreads by:
- Direct person-to-person contact
- Contact with infected mucus or phlegm from the nose or mouth
- Contact with infected feces
The virus enters through the mouth and nose, multiplies in the throat and intestinal tract, and then is absorbed and spread through the blood and lymph system. The time from being infected with the virus to developing symptoms of disease (incubation) ranges from 5 - 35 days (average 7 - 14 days).
Risks include:
- Lack of immunization against polio
- Travel to an area that has experienced a polio outbreak
In areas where there is an outbreak, those most likely to get the disease include children, pregnant women, and the elderly. The disease is more common in the summer and fall.
Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines, the incidence of the disease has been greatly reduced. Polio has been wiped out in a number of countries. There have been very few cases of polio in the Western hemisphere since the late 1970s. Children in the United States are now routinely vaccinated against the disease.
Outbreaks still occur in the developed world, usually in groups of people who have not been vaccinated. Polio often occurs after someone travels to a region where the disease is common. As a result of a massive, global vaccination campaign over the past 20 years, polio exists only in a few countries in Africa and Asia.
Symptoms
There are three basic patterns of polio infection: subclinical infections, nonparalytic, and paralytic. About 95% of infections are subclinical infections, which may not have symptoms.
SUBCLINICAL INFECTION SYMPTOMS
- General discomfort or uneasiness (malaise)
- Headache
- Red throat
- Slight fever
- Sore throat
- Vomiting
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ZAGAZIG ACADEMIC PANELIST (ZAP)
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