• Home

Home > Medical Reference > Encyclopedia (English)

Toggle: English / Spanish

Poliomyelitis

• Overview
• Symptoms
• Treatment
• Prevention

Definition:

Poliomyelitis is a disorder caused by a viral infection. The virus, known as poliovirus, infects nerves. This infection can lead to temporary paralysis  or, in more severe cases, permanent paralysis or death.

Alternative Names:

Polio; Infantile paralysis

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Poliomyelitis is a communicable disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Transmission of the virus occurs by direct person-to-person contact, by contact with infected secretions from the nose or mouth, or by contact with infected feces.

The virus enters through the mouth and nose, multiplies in the throat and intestinal tract, and then is absorbed and spread through the blood and lymph system . Incubation (the time from being infected with the virus to developing symptoms of disease) ranges from 5 to 35 days (average 7 to 14 days).

Risks include:

• Travel to an area that has experienced a polio outbreak
• Lack of immunization against polio and subsequent exposure to a case of polio

In areas that had an outbreak, the more susceptible populations include children, pregnant women, and the elderly.

Polio has been eradicated in a number of countries, and now occurs only in a handful of regions worldwide. Until recently, the last case of non-vaccine related polio in the United States was in 1979. However, in November 2005, four children in an Amish community in Minnesota were diagnosed with polio. None of these children had been vaccinated for polio, which is now a routine measure in the United States.

Besides this small outbreak, there have been very few cases of polio in the Western hemisphere since the late 1970s. This is due to a massive eradication program, which included mass vaccination in these regions. However, there are still areas of the world where polio is widespread. The disease is more common in the summer and fall.

Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines, the incidence of the disease was greatly reduced. Outbreaks still occur in the developed world, usually in non-immunized groups, often following recent travel to a region where the disease is common. Thanks to a massive global eradication campaign over the past 20 years, as of the end of 2005 polio exists in only four countries: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

• Review Date: 3/6/2006
• Reviewed By: Monica Gandhi MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is the first of its kind, requiring compliance with 53 standards of quality and accountability, verified by independent audit. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial process . A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics (www.hiethics.com) and subscribes to the principles of the Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch).

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. Copyright 1997-2007 A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.