Polio
By: Julia Laffoon
Introduction
Every move he makes! Every step he takes! All those pills he takes! Every single day! Always in aching pain every day! Polio is a terrible disease that you don’t ever want to get. Even though I don’t have polio I can see how painful it is and what it does to the people that do have Polio. All the pain my grandpa goes through is terrible. He has to wear a brace on his lower back and legs. When he was 2 years old he had been diagnosed with Polio. Polio is a viral disease that is caused by the poliovirus, and could affect the spinal cord and cause your muscles to become weak and cause you to get paralysis. The poliovirus is usually spread through the fecal-oral route, but you can also get the poliovirus by simply having direct contact with someone who is infected with the poliovirus.
What is Polio?
Polio is a viral disease that is caused by the poliovirus and is highly contagious. Depending on the type of polio, polio could affect the spinal cord, cause your muscles to become weak, cause you to get paralysis, could cause you to have breathing problems, and it can also cause death. According to Medical News Today polio mostly occurs in vulnerable people like very young, pregnant woman or those with immune systems that are substantially weakened by other medical conditions.
How does the poliovirus spread?
The poliovirus is most commonly spread through the fecal-oral route (especially in unsanitary environments) and or through contaminated water or food. Polio can also spread by simply living with a person who is infected with the poliovirus or by simply having direct contact with someone who is infected with the poliovirus.
What are some symptoms of polio?
In 1905 when the poliovirus was first discovered. Many people didn’t know how to detect it because there were almost no signs of it. many polio victims didn’t even know they were infected with the poliovirus (polio). Certain types of polio will have different types of symptom like if you were infected with Abortive polio you might have shown signs of flu-like symptoms like a fever, sore throat, and vomiting.
What are the types of polio?
There are many different types of polio that damage different parts of the body. According to Medical News Today Some of the most serious and most common types of polio are. Spinal polio: which attacks motor neurons in the spinal cord and causes paralysis in the arms and legs and breathing problem. Bulbar polio: affects neurons responsible for sight, vision, taste, swallowing, and breathing. Bulbospinal polio: causes damage to both spinal and bulbar polio.
how has the Polio vaccine inproved over the years?
According to "Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. Over the past two decades, tremendous progress has been made toward the eradication of polio. In 1988, the World Health Assembly established the goal of eradicating the disease and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched. In 125 countries about 350,000 people were infected by the poliovirus annually. Immunization efforts have reduced the number of polio cases globally by more than 99%, saving more than 10 million children from paralysis.
Conclusion
Polio was one of the worst viral diseases you could have got in the 1900s. Polio is a viral disease that is caused by the poliovirus, and could affect the spinal cord and cause your muscles to become weak and cause you to get paralysis. The poliovirus is usually spread through the fecal-oral route, but you can also get the poliovirus by simply having direct contact with someone who is infected with the poliovirus. Immunization efforts have reduced the number of polio cases globally by more than 99%, saving more than 10 million children from paralysis. I am glad we have polio immunizations, because if we didn't we would have to suffer what my grandpa is suffering now.
Bibliography
- http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/timelines/polio.
- http://www.cdc.gov/polio/about/.
- http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155580.php.
- http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/polio/basics/causes/con-20030957.
- http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/fs-parents.html.
- http://polio.emedtv.com/polio/how-do-you-get-polio.html
- http://www.globalvaccines.org/content/polio+vaccine+program/19613.
- https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/poliomyelitis/fact_sheet.htm
- http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Polio.