page_title: List of polio survivors
section_title: Miscellaneous
hierarchical_section_title: List of polio survivors / Uncontested diagnosis / Miscellaneous
caption_attribution_description: English: Air Marshal (later Marshal of the RAF) Sir John Slessor.
context_page_description: Poliomyelitis is an acute viral infection that involves the gastrointestinal tract and occasionally the central nervous system. Poliovirus is acquired by faecal-oral or oral transmission. Prior to the introduction of a vaccine in 1955, infection was common, with epidemics during the summer and autumn of temperate countries. An eradication programme has reduced the number of reported polio cases worldwide by more than 99% since the mid-1980s. Most infections are asymptomatic; a small number cause a minor illness that is indistinguishable from many other viral illnesses; less than 1% result in acute flaccid paralysis. The extent of paralysis varies from part of a limb to quadriplegia and respiratory failure. The latter was often treated with an iron lung. Around 30–40 years after contracting paralytic poliomyelitis, about 25–40% of cases lead to post-polio syndrome. Symptoms include muscle pain, further weakening of muscles and paralysis.
  Surviving paralytic polio can be a life-changing experience. Individuals may be permanently physically disabled to varying degrees. Others remember the fear and isolation. Some continue to campaign for polio eradication or disability rights.
caption: Despite polio-weakened legs, Sir John Slessor became one of Britain's finest airmen.
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