Polio and Post-Polio Syndrome (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: Infantile paralysis, Poliomyelitis, PPS

Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus. It attacks your nervous system. In rare cases, polio infection can cause paralysis. Polio vaccination will protect most people for life. The United States and most other countries eradicated polio decades ago, except for rare cases.

The disease most commonly affects young children. Poliovirus spreads in human waste. People usually get it from contaminated food or water. Symptoms include fever, tiredness, vomiting, neck stiffness, and leg and arm pain. Most infected people never have symptoms. No treatment will reverse polio paralysis. Moist heat, physical therapy and medicines might ease symptoms.

Some people who've had polio develop post-polio syndrome (PPS) years later. Symptoms include tiredness, new muscle weakness and muscle and joint pain. There is no way to prevent or cure PPS.

World Health Organization

Start Here

Polio Vaccine(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/vaccines/333.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/healthy/vaccines/333.printerview.html
Polio: The Disease and the Virus(World Health Organization) - http://www.polioeradication.org/disease.asp
Post-Polio Syndrome(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/post_polio/detail_post_polio.htm
Also available in Spanish http://espanol.ninds.nih.gov/trastornos/el_sindrome_de_la_pospoliomielitis.htm

Overviews

Polio(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/polio/DS00572/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Post-Polio Syndrome(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/post-polio-syndrome/DS00494/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Post-Polio Syndrome(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/post_polio/post_polio.htm

Diagnosis/Symptoms

Late Effects of Polio: An Overview(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/lep.html
Pulmonary Function Tests(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/pulm.html

Prevention/Screening

Polio Vaccine(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/vaccines/333.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/healthy/vaccines/333.printerview.html
Polio Vaccine(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - Links to PDF - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-IPV.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://www.immunize.org/vis/sp_pol00.pdf
Polio: Risk Factors(World Health Organization) - http://www.polioeradication.org/risk.asp
Poliomyelitis: Health Information for International Travel(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/yellowBookCh4-Poliomyelitis.aspx

Alternative Therapy

Alternative Therapies(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/alter.html

Coping

Wellness(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/well.html

Disease Management

Coughing(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/cou.html
Fatigue(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/fat.html
Information about the Late Effects of Polio(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/pabout.html
Also available in Spanish http://www.post-polio.org/edu/pab-sp1.html
Medications(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/med.html
Orthotics(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/orth.html
Pain(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/pain.html
Statement about Exercise for Survivors of Polio(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/pphnews/pph19-2a.html
Swallowing(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/swal.html
Underventilation(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/und.html
Ventilators(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/vents.html
Weakness(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/weak.html

Related Issues

Anesthesia(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/anes.html
Cold Intolerance(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/cold.html

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Poliomyelitis(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Poliomyelitis%22
ClinicalTrials.gov: Postpoliomyelitis Syndrome(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Postpoliomyelitis+Syndrome%22

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Performance of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance and incidence of... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18773554&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Laboratory surveillance for wild and vaccine-derived polioviruses--worldwide, January 2007-June 2008. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18772852&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Progress towards eradicating poliomyelitis in Nigeria, January 2007-August 2008. ... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18756634&tool=MedlinePlus
Polio and Post-Polio Syndrome -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(poliomyelitis[majr:noexp]+OR+poliomyelitis,bulbar[majr:noexp])+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
Postpolio Syndrome -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=postpoliomyelitis+syndrome[mh]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Directories

Post-Polio Directory 2008: Post-Polio Clinics, Health Professionals, Support Groups(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - Large PDF file - http://www.post-polio.org/net/PDIR.pdf

Organizations

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://espanol.ninds.nih.gov/
Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network - http://www.post-polio.org/
World Health Organization - http://www.who.int/en/

Newsletters/Print Publications

Global Polio Eradication Initiative Newsletter(World Health Organization) - http://www.polioeradication.org/polionews.asp

Law and Policy

Disability, Social Security(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/edu/handbk/socsec.html

Statistics

Incidence Rates of Poliomyelitis in U.S.(Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network) - http://www.post-polio.org/ir-usa.html
Wild Poliovirus Weekly Update(World Health Organization) - http://www.polioeradication.org/casecount.asp

Children

Polio(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/polio.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/medicos/polio_esp.html

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Paralysis - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/paralysis.html
Bones, Joints and Muscles - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bonesjointsandmuscles.html
Brain and Nerves - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/brainandnerves.html
Infections - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/infections.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Polio and Post-Polio Syndrome is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www.niaid.nih.gov/

Polio and Post-Polio Syndrome - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/polioandpostpoliosyndrome.html