Poliomyelitis (Polio Virus)
Caleb Callahan and Jonah France
Definition
Polio or Poliomyelitis is a viral disease that can affect the nerves and can partial or fully paralyze you.
Polio
The polio virus is a highly contagious virus that is spread through being coughed or sneezed on by someone who has polio. In most cases, polio causes temporary paralysis but in extreme cases, it is permanent.
Abortive Polio
Abortive polio: In this polio it is just a mild illness with symptoms such as a fever, fatigue, headaches, sore throats, nausea, and diarrhea.
Non-Paralytic Polio
Non-paralytic polio: Along with the symptoms of abortive polio it has neurological symptoms such as sensitivity to light and neck stiffness.
Paralytic Polio
Paralytic polio: After the usual symptoms of a virus, major indicators of paralytic polio are loss of superficial reflexes, muscle pains, or spasms. Soon after, paralysis follows but less than 2% of people who get infected with polio never fully recover.
Dr. Jonas Salk
Dr. Jonas Salk was a medical researcher and virologist (someone who studies viruses). He was born October 28, 1914. He created the first polio vaccine in 1953. He also confirmed there were three types of polio. He first tested the polio vaccine on his family.
Iron Lung
The iron lung helps people who have paralytic polio breathe. They need this because paralytic polio usually paralyzes peoples lungs or heart so it is incredibly hard for them to breathe.
Polio in the Book
In the book James' grandmother had polio.
Famous People Who had Polio
Many famous have had people through out the years and some still contract it today even though it is not common at all.
President Franklin Roosevelt
President Franklin Roosevelt had polio which permanently paralyzed him waist down.
Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus is considered one of the greatest golfers of all time and he suffered a mild case of polio when he was younger but he was able to survive without much damage.
Wah Ming Chang
Wah Ming Chang was a Chinese American artist and he did mostly sculpting. He is probably most famous for designing major set pieces on the original "Star Trek" series. He developed polio when he was very young and it paralyzed him fully for a little while. When he was older his polio became a problem again and he later died of it.