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Poliomyelitis

• Overview
• Symptoms
• Treatment
• Prevention

Alternative Names:

Polio; Infantile paralysis

Treatment:

The goal of treatment is to control symptoms while the infection runs its course.

Lifesaving measures, particularly assistance with breathing, may be necessary in severe cases.

Symptoms are treated according to their presence and severity. Antibiotics may be used to treat urinary tract infections . Medications, such as bethanechol, may reduce urinary retention. Pain killers are used to reduce headache, muscle pain, and spasms. Narcotics are not usually given because they increase the risk of breathing difficulty.

Moist heat (heating pads, warm towels, etc.) may reduce muscle pain and spasm.

Activity is limited only by the extent of discomfort and the extent of muscle weakness. Physical therapy, braces or corrective shoes, orthopedic surgery, or similar interventions may eventually be necessary to maximize recovery of muscle strength and function.

Expectations (prognosis):

The outcome of the disease varies with the form (subclinical, nonparalytic, or paralytic) and the site affected. If the spinal cord and brain are not affected, which is the case more than 90% of the time, complete recovery is likely.

Brain or spinal cord involvement is a medical emergency that may result in paralysis or death (usually from respiratory difficulties).

Disability is more common than death. Infection high in the spinal cord or in the brain are associated with greater risk for respiratory difficulty.

Complications:

• Spread of infection to other non-immunized persons
• Permanent muscle paralysis, disability, deformity
• Pulmonary edema
• Shock
• Complications of immobility and lung involvement
• Aspiration pneumonia
• High blood pressure
• Urinary tract infections
• Kidney stones
• Paralytic ileus (loss of intestinal functioning)
• Myocarditis
• Cor pulmonale

Calling your health care provider:

Call your health care provider if symptoms of poliomyelitis occur.

Call your health care provider if someone close to you has developed poliomyelitis and you are not immunized against the disorder.

Call your health care provider if your child's polio immunization (vaccine) is not up-to-date.

• 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.

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