A serious disease, caused by a virus, that has become extremely rare because of widespread availability of vaccines developed in the 1950s.

Poliomyelitis, commonly known as polio, is a severe disease caused by an airborne virus that is spread from person to person through coughs, sneezes, or simply talking. In mild cases, the person experiences fever, sore throat, nausea, and pain and stiffness in the spine and legs. In more severe cases, known as paralytic polio, the disease can cause paralysis of some muscles of the body, and can cause death it its most serious cases. About half the individuals with paralytic polio suffer some permanent effects, such as lack of mobility, from the disease. Fortunately, the incidence of polio has become rare since vaccines became widely available in the 1950s. The most common vaccine in use in the late 1990s is the oral, livevirus vaccine, referred to as Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) or Sabin Oral Vaccine. The advantages of OPV are that it provides a strong, permanent immunity to polio, and can be painlessly administered orally. An alternate vaccine is the inactivated polio vaccine or IPV, developed by Jonas Salk and first available to the public in 1954. The OPV is given by injection in the leg or arm, rather than administered orally, and provides a less vigorous immunity than the OPV.

For Further Study

Organizations

Gazette International Networking Institute (GINI)
Address: 4502 Maryland Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63108
Telephone: (314) 361-0475
(Organization for severely disabled people, such as polio victims, those with spinal cord injuries, and their families and caregivers. Publishes Polio Network News.)

March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
Address: 1275 Mamoroneck Avenue
White Plains, NY 10605
Telephone: (914) 428-7100
(Publishes information sheets on specific birth defects and related topics, including Polio and Post Polio Muscle Atrophy.)