Polio is a viral infectious disease.
This devastating disease was wiped out from the western hemisphere in the second half of the 20th century.
An wide ranging outbreak of polio occurred in the first half of the 1900s. However from ancient times polio has plagued human society. Read more
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Jonas Salk created a vaccination for polio and it was widely available in 1955.
The height of the polio rampant was in 1952, and at this time period roughly 3000 deaths were reported in the United States. There were more than 60,000 polio cases reported.
Polio occurring through natural infection which is known as wild type polio, was wiped out of America by the year 1979. The western hemisphere got clear of it by 1991.
Although polio is a viral illness, no symptoms could be seen in more than 95% of the infected persons. This type is called asymptomatic polio. In about 4% - 8% cases symptoms can be seen and this type is called symptomatic polio.
Polio acts in three forms. One form is harmless and a tremendously mild form and it is called abortive polio. Many people who have this type of polio possibly not even suspect that they are infected as it is limited only to mild flu like symptoms such as minor upper respiratory infection, diarrhea, fever, sore throat and a general feeling of being ill. Read more
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The second form is more serious than the abortive polio. It is associated with aseptic meningitis called nonparalytic polio. Neurological indications such as sensitivity to light and neck toughness can be seen in about 1% - 5% of infected cases.
The third type is a very severe unbearable form which is called paralytic polio. This type occurs very hardly in about 0.1% - 2% cases.
A complete recovery is made by cases who contact abortive polio and abortive polio. But paralytic polio, just as its name hints, causes muscle paralysis. Rarely it results in death too.
In paralytic polio, the virus leaves the intestinal trail and enters the blood stream and hurts the nerves. In the other two types of polio which are abortive polio and abortive polio, the virus does not get passed the intestinal tract. Therefore the third type of polio which is paralytic polio is more negative and severe.
Though polio is rare in the western world, it is however endemic to South Asia and Nigeria. Read more
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