Where does the polio virus come from?

Where does the polio virus come from?

Polio is a viral disease which may affect the spinal cord causing muscle weakness and paralysis. The polio virus enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with the stool of an infected person. Polio is more common in infants and young children and occurs under conditions of poor hygiene.

Does polio vaccine last for life?

It doesn’t matter how long it has been since the earlier dose(s). Adults who are at increased risk of exposure to poliovirus and who have previously completed a routine series of polio vaccine (IPV or OPV) can receive one lifetime booster dose of IPV.

What is the history of polio?

This Egyptian stele (an upright stone carving) dating from 1403-1365 BC shows a priest with a walking stick and foot, deformities characteristic of polio. The disease was given its first clinical description in 1789 by the British physician Michael Underwood, and recognised as a condition by Jakob Heine in 1840.

How can polio virus be prevented?

The best way to prevent polio is by vaccination. The inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is given as a shot and is the only type of polio vaccine available in the United States. The oral polio vaccine (OPV) was discontinued in 2000. Children should receive four doses of IPV vaccine starting at 2 months of age.

Why is there no cure for polio?

Once the virus that causes polio has infected a person, there is no treatment that will cure polio. Early diagnosis and supportive treatments such as bed rest, pain control, good nutrition, and physical therapy to prevent deformities from occurring over time can help reduce the long-term symptoms due to muscle loss.

What is incubation period of polio?

The incubation period for nonparalytic poliomyelitis is 3-6 days. For the onset of paralysis in paralytic poliomyelitis, the incubation period usually is 7 to 21 days. The response to poliovirus infection is highly variable and has been categorized on the basis of the severity of clinical presentation.

Can polio be transmitted through air?

Sometimes poliovirus is spread through saliva from an infected person or droplets expelled when an infected person sneezes or coughs. People become infected when they inhale airborne droplets or touch something contaminated with the infected saliva or droplets.

What is the nature of polio?

Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. In about 0.5 percent of cases, it moves from the gut to affect the central nervous system and there is muscle weakness resulting in a flaccid paralysis….

Is polio in the environment?

Survival of poliovirus in the environment is highly variable, but viral inactivation is usually complete within months. Higher primates may be infected with poliovirus, but they are unlikely reservoirs in nature. The only poliovirus reservoir remaining after eradication will be laboratory stocks.

What are the three types of polio?

There are three wild types of poliovirus (WPV) – type 1, type 2, and type 3. People need to be protected against all three types of the virus in order to prevent polio disease and the polio vaccination is the best protection.

Do you have polio for life?

Polio is a preventable life-threatening disease. All adults and children need to be immunised to protect against polio. Polio symptoms vary from mild flu-like symptoms to paralysis and possibly death.

Why was polio worse in the summer?

Each summer, polio would come like The Plague. Beaches and pools would close — because of the fear that the poliovirus was waterborne. Children had to say away from crowds, so they often were banned from movie theaters, bowling alleys, and the like.

Which countries still have polio?

Our Progress Against Polio The last evidence of wild poliovirus type 1 transmission in Nigeria was in September 2018, leaving only two polio-endemic countries (having never interrupted the transmission of indigenous wild poliovirus type 1), which are Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Does polio still exist 2020?

Wild poliovirus has been eradicated in all continents except Asia, and as of 2020, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries where the disease is still classified as endemic.

Why is polio still a problem in some nations?

Polio is a disease that has lifelong health consequences for those infected. The poliovirus is of particular concern to public health because it spreads easily – it can circulate without causing symptoms for weeks, and so can travel great distances, entering polio-free areas by land, sea or air travel.

Does polio have a vaccine?

Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is the only polio vaccine that has been given in the United States since 2000. It is given by shot in the arm or leg, depending on the person’s age. Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is used in other countries.

When did they stop giving the polio vaccine?

OPV was recommended for use in the United States for almost 40 years, from 1963 until 2000. The results have been miraculous: Polio was eliminated from the United States in 1979 and from the Western Hemisphere in 1991. Since 2000, only IPV is recommended to prevent polio in the United States.

How long does the polio vaccine last?

Booster doses of the vaccine are recommended every 10 years for at-risk adults.

Can you still get polio after being vaccinated?

Do people still get polio in the United States? No, thanks to a successful vaccination program, the United States has been polio-free for more than 30 years, but the disease still occurs in other parts of the world.

Can polio affect you later in life?

Polio symptoms vary from mild flu-like symptoms to paralysis and possibly death. People who have had polio may experience effects later in life called the late effects of polio, when physical symptoms emerge 15 years or more after the first polio infection.

Is the polio vaccine good for life?

It is not known how long people who received IPV will be immune to poliovirus, but they are most likely protected for many years after a complete series of IPV.

Is polio vaccine lifelong?

The polio vaccine provides lifelong immunity and is the only means of polio prevention. There are two types currently available: the oral polio vaccine (OPV) and the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). The vaccine results in humoral (circulating antibody) and mucosal (secretory immunoglobulin A) immune responses (27).

Is a polio vaccine good for life?

Is polio a bacteria or virus?

Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can infect a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis (can’t move parts of the body).

What are the 3 different types of polio?

There are three serotypes of wild poliovirus type 1, type 2, and type 3 each with a slightly different capsid protein. Immunity to one serotype does not give confer immunity to the other two. Outbreaks of poliovirus were largely unknown prior to the 20th century.

What do you know about pulse polio?

Pulse Polio is an immunisation campaign established by the government of India to eliminate poliomyelitis (polio) in India by vaccinating all children under the age of five years against the polio virus. The project fights polio through a large-scale, pulse vaccination programme and monitoring for poliomyelitis cases.