poliomyelitis

enUK

poliomyelitis

(pō'lēōmī'əlī`tĭs),

polio,

infantile paralysis,

acute viral infection, mainly of children but also affecting older persons. There are three immunologic types of poliomyelitis virus, one of which was eradicated in 1999; exposure to one type produces immunity only to that type, so infection with another type is still possible. Spread of the infection is primarily through contact with an infected person. Most people who contract polio either exhibit no symptoms or experience only minor illness; however, such individuals can harbor the virus and spread it to others. Less than 1% of the people who get infected develop paralysis.

The virus enters the body by way of the mouth, invades the bloodstream, and may be carried to the central nervous system, where it causes lesions of the gray matter of the spinal cord and brain. The illness begins with fever, headache, stiff neck and back, and muscle pain and tenderness. If there is involvement of the central nervous system, paralysis ensues. Of those patients who develop paralytic poliomyelitis, about 25% sustain severe permanent disability, another 25% have mild disabilities, and 50% recover with no residual paralysis. The disease is usually fatal if the nerve cells in the brain are attacked (bulbar poliomyelitis), causing paralysis of essential muscles, such as those controlling swallowing, heartbeat, and respiration. There is no specific drug for treatment. For reasons not clearly understood, some people who have had severe polio experience postpolio syndrome, a condition in which new weakness and pain occurs years later in previously affected muscles.

The incidence of poliomyelitis declined radically in the United States when a mass immunization program with the SalkSalk, Jonas Edward,
1914–95, American physician and microbiologist, b. New York City, B.S. College of the City of New York, 1934, M.D. New York Univ. College of Medicine, 1939. He did research on the influenza virus at the Univ.
..... Click the link for more information. vaccine, a preparation made from killed organisms and injected, was begun in 1955. A live-virus vaccine had earlier been developed (1948) by Hilary KoprowskiKoprowski, Hilary,
1916–2013, Polish-American microbiologist and immunologist, b. Warsaw, M.D. Univ. of Warsaw, 1939. He fled Poland after the Nazi invasion (1939), making his way to Brazil where he worked in the Rockefeller Foundation's yellow-fever service.
..... Click the link for more information. , but it was never approved for use in the United States. By 1961 the SabinSabin, Albert Bruce
, 1906–93, American physician and microbiologist, b. Bialystock, Russia, grad. New York Univ. (B.S., 1928; M.D., 1931). He emigrated to the United States in 1921 and was naturalized in 1930.
..... Click the link for more information. vaccine, a preparation made from weakened living organisms and taken orally, was released for use. Since then the disease has been virtually eliminated in the Americas, Europe, and Australasia, but vaccination programs continue because of polio's existence in other parts of the world (mainly areas of South Asia and West Africa) and the ease of travel. In 2016, the formulation of the vaccine was altered to remove the now-eradicated type 2 poliovirus.

In 1988 the World Health Organization began a global vaccination campaign to eradicate the disease—which continued to paralyze hundreds of thousands of children each year—by 2000. Although the date of eradication was later pushed back to 2005 (and even later a set deadline was abandoned), there were by 2003 less than a thousand new cases of polio worldwide, and the last last known case of type 2 poliomyelitis occurred in 1999. In 2003–4, however, the campaign was slowed when Muslim states in N Nigeria refused to use vaccines they believed would sterilize women, leading to an increase in cases there and in neighboring countries and to outbreaks of the disease in 17 countries including Yemen and Indonesia. Since then there have been other outbreaks, from various sources, in some African nations, in Central Asia, in Syria (as a result of its civil war), and in Papua New Guinea. According to WHO, endemic transmission of polio, however, continues to occur only Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria.

Poliomyelitis

An acute infectious viral disease which in its serious form affects the central nervous system and, by destruction of motor neurons in the spinal cord, produces flaccid paralysis. However, about 99% of infections are either inapparent or very mild. See Animal virus, Central nervous system

The virus probably enters the body through the mouth; primary multiplication occurs in the throat and intestine. Transitory viremia occurs; the blood seems to be the most likely route to the central nervous system. The severity of the infection may range from a completely inapparent through minor influenzalike illness, or an aseptic meningitis syndrome (nonparalytic poliomyelitis) with stiff and painful back and neck, to the severe forms of paralytic and bulbar poliomyelitis. In all clinical types, virus is regularly present in the enteric tract. In paralytic poliomyelitis the usual course begins as a minor illness but progresses, sometimes with an intervening recession of symptoms (hence biphasic), to flaccid paralysis of varying degree and persistence. When the motor neurons affected are those of the diaphragm or of the intercostal muscles, respiratory paralysis occurs. Bulbar poliomyelitis results from viral attack on the medulla (bulb of the brain) or higher brain centers, with respiratory, vasomotor, facial, palatal, or pharyngeal disturbances.

Poliomyelitis occurs throughout the world. In temperate zones it appears chiefly in summer and fall, although winter outbreaks have been known. It occurs in all age groups, but less frequently in adults because of their acquired immunity. The virus is spread by human contact; the nature of the contact is not clear, but it appears to be associated with familial contact and with interfamily contact among young children. The virus may be present in flies.

Inactivated poliovirus vaccine (Salk; IPV), prepared from virus grown in monkey kidney cultures, was developed and first used in the United States, but oral poliovirus vaccine (Sabin; OPV) is now generally used throughout the world. The oral vaccine is a living, attenuated virus.

Poliomyelitis

(also called infantile paralysis), an acute infectious disease caused by lesions of the gray matter of the spinal cord and characterized chiefly by disease of the nervous system.

The scientific study of poliomyelitis was begun by the German orthopedist J. Heine (1840), the Russian neuropathologist A. Ia. Kozhevnikov (1883), and the Swedish pediatrician K. Medin (1890), researchers who demonstrated the independent and infectious character of the disease. The incidence of poliomyelitis in the mid-20th century was of epidemic proportions in many European and North American countries. The use of vaccines resulted in a rapid decline in incidence and led to complete eradication of the disease in many areas: in the USSR, for example, it no longer existed after 1959. The American scientists J. Salk and A. Sabin and such Soviet scientists as M. P. Chuma-kov and A. A. Smorodintsev were instrumental in developing the vaccines.

Poliomyelitis is caused by an enterovirus existing in three independent types, I, II, and III. The source of infection is a person with the disease or an asymptomatic carrier. The causative agent is eliminated through the mouth for several days and then with the feces for several weeks, sometimes for months. The infection may be transmitted by inhaling the droplet-borne virus, but infection by swallowing, resulting from infected hands or food, is more common. Flies may also carry the virus.

Poliomyelitis occurs most often in summer and fall and generally attacks children from six months to five years of age. Type I virus is responsible for most cases. After entering the body, it multiplies in the Waldeyer’s ring, intestine, and regional lymph nodes. It penetrates the blood and sometimes the central nervous system, inflicting injury especially to the motor cells of the anterior horns of the spinal cord and the nuclei of the cranial nerves. In most cases, the clinical course is asymptomatic and the infection can be detected only by laboratory tests. In other cases, symptoms appear after an incubation period of three to 35 days (generally from nine to 11 days).

A distinction is made between nonparalytic poliomyelitis, which includes the abortive and meningeal types, and paralytic poliomyelitis. The abortive type is characterized by such general nonspecific symptoms as catarrhal manifestations, gastrointestinal disturbances, general weakness, and fever. From the epidemiological standpoint it is the most dangerous type. The meningeal type is manifested by serious meningitis. In the most common paralytic type, spinal poliomyelitis, the general symptoms of infection are followed by paralysis of muscle groups innervated by motor cells of the spinal cord. The muscles most often affected are the quadriceps and adductors of the legs, the flexors and extensors of the feet, and the deltoid, triceps, and supinators of the forearms. Paralysis of the diaphragm is particularly dangerous because it causes severe respiratory disturbances.

The bulbar type of poliomyelitis is caused by lesions of different sections of the medulla oblongata, and the pontine type by lesions of the nucleus of the facial nerve. The nonparalytic types of the disease usually end in complete recovery. With the paralytic types, the functions of the affected muscles are partially restored in some cases and the defect may persist for a long time, sometimes for life. The most severe cases, especially those involving the respiratory centers of the medulla oblongata, may be fatal. The diagnosis of the disease is based on clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory findings.

Poliomyelitis is treated by bed rest, pain-relieving drugs, tranquilizers, and application of heat. Patients with the paralytic types are treated by means of drugs and physical and orthopedic therapy when the progression of the paralysis ceases, at a point between the fourth and sixth weeks of the disease’s course; they later receive periodic treatment at a sanatorium or health resort. Treatment of respiratory disorders includes resuscitation procedures.

The principal method of preventing poliomyelitis is immunization with live vaccine. Children are given several scheduled vaccinations at intervals of a month or more from the age of two months. The vaccine is administered orally in the form of drops or candy. Persons who contract poliomyelitis are hospitalized and the site of the infection is disinfected. In the USSR, the Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR (founded 1955) is in charge of efforts to control poliomyelitis.

REFERENCES

Chumakov, M. P., I. M. Prisman, and T. S. Zatsepin. Poliomielit—detskii spinnomozgovoi paralich. Moscow, 1953.
Epidemicheskii poliomielit. Moscow, 1957.
Poliomielit. Moscow, 1957. (Translated from English.)
Drozdov, S. G. Poliomielit i egoprofilaktika v razlichnykh stranakh mira. Moscow, 1967.

S. G. DROZDOV

poliomyelitis

[¦pō·lē·ō‚mī·ə′līd·əs] (medicine) An acute infectious viral disease which in its most serious form involves the central nervous system and, by destruction of motor neurons in the spinal cord, produces flaccid paralysis. Also known as Heine-Medin disease; infantile paralysis.

poliomyelitis

an acute infectious viral disease, esp affecting children. In its paralytic form (acute anterior poliomyelitis) the brain and spinal cord are involved, causing weakness, paralysis, and wasting of muscle

poliomyelitis

enUK

poliomyelitis

[po″le-o-mi″ĕ-li´tis] an acute infectious disease occurring sporadically or in epidemics and caused by a virus, usually a poliovirus but occasionally a coxsackievirus or echovirus. Called also polio.
Initial clinical characteristics include fever, sore throat, headache, and vomiting, often with stiffness of the neck and back. In the minor illness these may be the only symptoms. The major illness (called also infantile paralysis), which may or may not be preceded by the minor illness, is characterized by involvement of the central nervous system, stiff neck, pleocytosis in the spinal fluid, and perhaps paralysis within a week. Bulbar poliomyelitis is a serious form involving the medulla oblongata and usually becomes evident within three days. The muscles of swallowing and breathing are affected, so that the patient has difficulty swallowing, speaking, and breathing. In all forms, there may be subsequent atrophy of groups of muscles, ending in contraction and permanent deformity.
There are three known types of poliovirus, each causing a different type of the disease. Most paralytic cases are caused by type 1. Poliovirus is found in the throat of a patient for the first few days of the disease, and in the intestines for a longer period, sometimes as long as 17 weeks. The disease spreads by means of droplets of moisture from an infected person's throat or by waste products from the intestines. The contagious period is 7 or more days from the time of onset of the disease. The poliovirus is short-lived, and cannot survive long in the air. The incubation period of polio is from 1 to 2 weeks, and occasionally as long as 3 weeks. Members of the family or other contacts may be carriers, but only for a short period of time.Treatment. There is at present no cure for polio; once the disease begins it must be allowed to run its course. Supportive care is important, however, and proper symptomatic treatment can reduce discomfort and prevent some crippling aftereffects. Applications of heat in the form of hot wet packs, diathermy, warm baths in the form of hydrotherapy, and gentle exercising can reduce pain caused by muscle spasms and prevent deformities. During the acute stage of the disease bed rest is essential and the patient is kept warm and quiet.Postpolio Weakness. Although immunization efforts to eradicate polio have reduced its current incidence in the United States to fewer than 10 cases each year, survivors of previous epidemics are experiencing a second encounter with the illness. Weakness in one or more muscles appears to be a late complication of the infection. The weakness can affect muscles that were first involved in the disease or it can affect those that were not formerly weakened. The cause of this phenomenon is not yet known and there is no treatment available, other than medications known to be effective in combating autoimmune diseases. It is hoped that this form of therapy will retard or arrest the process causing the weakness.Prevention. The first safe, effective vaccine against polio used killed polioviruses to stimulate production and release of antibodies. It was developed under the direction of Dr. Jonas E. Salk, and was nicknamed the vaccine" >Salk vaccine; its proper name is vaccine inactivated" >poliovirus vaccine inactivated (IPV). It was later replaced by an oral preparation of attenuated viruses called vaccine live oral" >poliovirus vaccine live oral, nicknamed the vaccine" >Sabin vaccine after its discoverer, Dr. Albert Sabin. In recent years in the United States, the Salk vaccine has come back into use. It does not induce intestinal immunity and so is not effective for poliovirus eradication in areas where wild-type polioviruses still exist in large numbers. However, it does not cause vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis and so is preferred for routine immunization in areas where the risk of infection by a wild-type polivirus is very low.

po·li·o·my·e·li·tis

(pō'lē-ō-mī'ĕ-lī'tis), An inflammatory process involving the gray matter of the spinal cord. [polio- + G. myelos, marrow, + -itis, inflammation]

poliomyelitis

(pō′lē-ō-mī′ə-lī′tĭs)n. A highly infectious viral disease that chiefly affects children and, in its acute forms, causes inflammation of motor neurons of the spinal cord and brainstem, leading to paralysis, muscular atrophy, and often deformity. Through vaccination, the disease is preventable. Also called infantile paralysis, polio.

po′li·o·my′e·lit′ic (-lĭt′ĭk) adj.

poliomyelitis

(1) A nonspecific term for inflammation affecting the spinal cord grey matter.
(2) Acute anterior poliomyelitis.

poliomyelitis

Neurology A condition characterized by the selective destruction of anterior horn cells in the spinal cord and/or brain stem, ± leading to muscle weakness, paralysis and respiratory paralysis Etiology Viral, in particular poliovirus, but also coxsackie A7, enterovirus 71, and others Clinical If extreme, asymmetric flaccid paralysis Lab CSF pleocytosis, ↑ lymphocytes. Cf Aseptic meningitis.

po·li·o·my·e·li·tis

(pō'lē-ō-mī'ĕ-lī'tis) An inflammatory process involving the gray matter of the spinal cord. [G. polion, gray matter + G. myelos, marrow, + -itis, inflammation]

poliomyelitis

An infectious disease, affecting mainly children and young adults, caused by one of three strains of polioviruses and spread by faecal contamination. The illness caused is usually mild and unimportant but the virus may attack the brain and spinal cord leading to extensive and fatal paralysis. In most cases polio causes no more than a few days of slight fever, sore throat, headache and vomiting. In some cases, however, stiffness of the neck and back, muscle aching and twitching occur and the condition progresses to paralysis. The use of polio vaccines (the spread of which has also been assisted by faecal contamination) has virtually eliminated the disease in developed countries. Also known as infantile paralysis.

poliomyelitis

a paralytic disease in which cells of the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM become destroyed by the polio virus, leading to crippling, although most infections are not serious and the patient usually recovers full health. The disease can be kept in check by the administration of vaccines, the most popular being a live, attenuated type. In Western countries administration of such vaccines is now routine and the disease is very rare.

po·li·o·my·e·li·tis

(pō'lē-ō-mī'ĕ-lī'tis) Inflammatory process involving gray matter of spinal cord. [G. polion, gray matter + G. myelos, marrow, + -itis, inflammation]

Patient discussion about poliomyelitis

Q. is polio contagus If i have a friend that had it when he was younger and it went away and then came back can i get it?A. highly contagious, it's an Enterovirus. if your friend didn't wash his hands after the bathroom and touched your sandwich it can infect you. he can even contaminate water sources...but no air-born contamination. but most western countries vaccinated against that, so you should be fine.

Q. Polio Syndrome pain One of my aunt is taking Neurontin for Post Polio Syndrome pain in her left leg and arm. she did not realize that she had so much pain and that it was keeping her from doing so many things. Is Neurontin recomended for this treatment and how does it help? Will she have problems with Neurontin if she take it long term? Neurontin is greatly helping the pain but not the fatique in these limbs. Should it help the fatigue?A. Neurontin is being given as medication for nerve pain now also...I take 800 mg a day and it was started for back pain and it is also being used in some fibro patients I am learning( i also have fibromyalgia) It didn't cause me a lot of drowsness but amount of medication and medications affect people differently so each person can be different. But with the fatigue fibromyalgia causes maybe I just can't tell the difference b/c before I started it I was tried all the time and that is not any worse. But if your Aunt and yourself feel uncomfortable with this treatment I would suggest a second opinion. Good Luck to your Aunt

Q. Help for/with post-polio problems A. Clemon -you'll have to be more specific on what kind of help do you ask for. you seek info? seek other people suffering from post-polio? what?
all i can do is give you a good link about it with some info..hope that what you look for:
http://www.post-polio.org/edu/pabout.html

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REFERENCES

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Synonyms for poliomyelitis

noun an acute viral disease marked by inflammation of nerve cells of the brain stem and spinal cord

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