What is Polio?
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A diagram showing the contractures that polio can cause
Poliomyelitis is a virus that enters the body through the mouth and flourishes inside the intestines. It is highly infectious, especially through exposure to fecal matter—it can be passed via hand-to-mouth contact, for example, if someone with the virus has not washed their hands after using the washroom. (Roberts, 2004.) Polio has been widely considered a “childhood disease,” much like the measles, because it occurs most frequently in children and can spread quickly between them. Polio has been called "infantile paralysis" because of its effect on children. (Oshinsky, 2005.)
While polio raised its head in North America in the 40s and 50s and many think of it as a modern or new illness, it has been around for centuries. An 1895 definition of poliomyelitis describes it in much the same way we describe it today: "Acute inflammation of the anterior horns of the gray matter of the spinal cord, leading to a destruction of the large multipolar cells of these horns. It is most common in children, coming on during the period of the first dentition and producing a paralysis of certain muscle groups or of an entire limb." (Encyclopedia of Global Health, 2008.)
Most people who contract polio develop only mild, flu-like symptoms, such as heachache and sore throat. Some do not show signs of the virus at all, even though they are still carriers. For others (about 1 in 100), the virus will have a much greater impact: it infects the nervous system and can cause permanent damage, sometimes resulting in paralysis. In some cases the muscles that control breathing can be impaired, and this can be fatal. (Oshinsky, 2005.)