# Polio

poliomyelitis

infectious disease, class of disease, signs den symptoms| Dem name after | Jakob Heine, Karl Oskar Medin  |
| Has cause | poliovirus  |
| Has effect | Otter Valley polio epidemic, 1916 polio epidemic  |
| Health specialty | infectious diseases, neurology, orthopedics  |
| Medical examination | physical examination, viral culture, serological test  |
| Disease transmission process | fecal–oral route, contact transmission  |
| Anatomical location | peripheral nervous system  |
| Hashtag | polio  |
| Has natural reservoir | human  |
| ICD-9-CM | 045, 045.9, 045.92, 045.90  |
| ICPC 2 ID | N70  |

**Poliomyelitis** (/ˌpoʊlioʊˌmaɪəˈlaɪtɪs/ *POH-lee-oh-MY-ə-LY-tiss*), dem commonly shorten to **polio**, be an infectious disease wey be caused by de poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases be asymptomatic; mild symptoms wich fi occur dey include sore throat den fever; insyd a proportion of cases more severe symptoms dey develop such as headache, neck stiffness, den paresthesia. Dese symptoms usually dey pass within one anaa two weeks. A less common symptom be permanent paralysis, den possible death insyd extreme cases. Years after recovery, post-polio syndrome fi occur, plus a slow development of muscle weakness similar to wat na de person get during de initial infection.

Polio dey occur naturally insyd humans per. E be highly infectious, wey e be spread from person to person either thru fecal–oral transmission (e.g. poor hygiene, anaa by ingestion of chow or water wey be contaminated by human feces), anaa via de oral–oral route. Those wey be infected fi spread de disease for up to six weeks even if no symptoms be present. Dem fi diagnose de disease by finding de virus insyd de feces anaa detecting antibodies against am insyd de blood.

Na poliomyelitis exist for thousands of years, plus depictions of de disease insyd ancient art. Na dem first recognize de disease as a distinct condition by de English physician Michael Underwood insyd 1789, wey na dem first identify de virus wey dey cause am insyd 1909 by de Austrian immunologist Karl Landsteiner. Na major outbreaks start to occur insyd de late 19th century insyd Europe den de United States, den insyd de 20th century, e cam be one of de most worrying childhood diseases. Following de introduction of polio vaccines insyd de 1950s, na polio incidence decline rapidly. As of October 2023, na Pakistan den Afghanistan per remain endemic for wild poliovirus (WPV).

Once infected, der be no specific treatment. De disease fi be prevented by de polio vaccine, plus dem require multiple doses for lifelong protection. Der be two broad types of polio vaccine; an injected polio vaccine (IPV) wey dey use inactivated poliovirus den an oral polio vaccine (OPV) wey dey contain attenuated (weakened) live virus. Thru de use of both types of vaccine, na incidence of wild polio decrease from an estimated 350,000 cases insyd 1988 to 30 confirmed cases insyd 2022, dem confine to just three countries. Insyd rare cases, na de traditional OPV be able to revert to a virulent form. Na dem develop den grant an improved oral vaccine plus greater genetic stability (nOPV2) full licensure den prequalification by de World Health Organization insyd December 2023.