Poliomyelitis

Poliomyelitis ("polio"), or infantile paralysis, is a viral paralytic disease. The causative agent, a virus called poliovirus (PV), enters the body orally, infecting the intestinal lining. It may proceed to the blood stream and into the central nervous system causing muscle weakness and often paralysis.

History

The effects of a polio infection have been known since prehistory. Egyptian paintings and carvings depict otherwise healthy people with withered limbs, walking with canes at a young age, etc. The Roman Emperor Claudius was stricken as a child and walked with a limp for the rest of his life. United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt contracted polio in 1921 and was paralyzed from the waist down as a result. The first medical report on poliomyelitis was by Jakob Heine in 1840. Karl Oskar Medin was the first to empirically study a poliomyelitis epidemic in 1890. The work of these two physicians has led to the disease being known as the Heine-Medin disease.

Related Topics:
Prehistory - Egyptian - Roman Emperor - Claudius - Franklin D. Roosevelt - Jakob Heine - 1840 - Karl Oskar Medin - 1890

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First effective vaccine

The first effective polio vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk, although it was the vaccine developed by Albert Sabin that was used for mass inoculation. The first inoculations of children against polio began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 23, 1954. Through mass immunization, the disease was wiped out in the Americas, although it recently has re-appeared in Haiti, where political strife and poverty have interfered with vaccination efforts. http://www.vaccinationnews.com/DailyNews/March2002/PolioHaitiLinkedIncompleteVax.htm

Related Topics:
Polio vaccine - Jonas Salk - Albert Sabin - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - February 23 - 1954 - The Americas - Haiti

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Eradication efforts

Number of cases http://www.rotary.org/foundation/polioplus/news/eradication.html http://www.rotary.org/foundation/polioplus/news/milestones/index.html http://www.polioeradication.org/casecount.asp:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• 1988: 350,000
• 1999: 7,083
• 2004: 1,300
• 2005: 1,310 (as of October 2005)
◄ Poliomyelitis: Polio and children
Poliomyelitis: Social impact ►