Prevention for polio virus

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Would love your thoughts, please comment. If a sufficient number of children are fully immunized against polio, the virus is unable to find susceptible children to infect, and dies out. Young children who are not yet toilet-trained are a ready source of transmission, regardless of their environment. Polio can be spread when food or drink is contaminated by faeces. There is also evidence that flies can passively transfer poliovirus from faeces to food.

Most people infected with the poliovirus have no signs of illness and are never aware they have been infected. For this reason, WHO considers a single confirmed case of polio paralysis to be evidence of an epidemic — particularly in countries where very few cases occur.

In others, initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in infections leads to irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs.

This is caused by the virus entering the blood stream and invading the central nervous system. As it multiplies, the virus destroys the nerve cells that activate muscles.

The affected muscles are no longer functional and the limb becomes floppy and lifeless — a condition known as acute flaccid paralysis AFP. All cases of acute flaccid paralysis AFP among children under fifteen years of age are reported and tested for poliovirus within 48 hours of onset. More extensive paralysis, involving the trunk and muscles of the thorax and abdomen, can result in quadriplegia.

In the most severe cases bulbar polio , poliovirus attacks the nerve cells of the brain stem, reducing breathing capacity and causing difficulty in swallowing and speaking. These symptoms — called post-polio syndrome — include new progressive muscle weakness, severe fatigue and pain in the muscles and joints.

No one knows why only a small percentage of infections lead to paralysis. Several key risk factors have been identified as increasing the likelihood of paralysis in a person infected with polio. These include:. There is no cure for polio, only treatment to alleviate the symptoms. Here's some information to help you get ready for your visit.

When you make your appointment, ask if there's anything you need to do in advance. Your doctor may recommend taking steps to reduce the risk of spreading a potentially contagious illness to others. Make a list of:. Take a family member or friend along, if possible, to help you remember the information you're given.

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