Many nurses think they are unlikely to care for anyone with polio complications.
After all, polio was eradicated after vaccines were developed in the 1950s. The chances of caring for a polio survivor with the late effects of polio, commonly called post-polio syndrome, are growing every day. Although the syndrome progresses over a period of time, people with PPS are at a significant risk for increased morbidity and mortality, especially when they develop acute health problems. Polio survivors with PPS are a growing population. As the country's most populous state, California has a large percent of the more than 1.6 million people who had polio before widespread vaccination became available, in 1955.