Poliomyelitis Case Study

Nobody has ever discovered completely how it is that polio is spread. The best evidence suggests that the virus is excreted in the stool and passed through hand to hand or hand to mouth contact by people who do not wash their hands properly or often enough. It was during the first few years of the fifties and many years before then, that health department officials

In April 2015, the letter indicates, the then Director of Medical Services, Dr Nicholas Muraguri, submitted 56 samples of the polio vaccine to be used in the national campaign scheduled for April and May but which was pushed forward to August of the same year after the church raised concerns about the safety of the

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a disease that attacks the nervous tissue in the spinal cord and the brain stem resulting in paralysis (Document One). Polio is caused by the poliovirus, but it is unknown how this virus is acquired. The virus enters the digestive tract and stays in the intestines for up to eight weeks, and then attacks the lymphatic system, the blood stream and eventually travels to the brain and spine (Document Four). Once it is infected in one’s body, the disease is highly contagious and can be spread through contact of saliva, food, germs, or feces (Document Two). “The poliovirus causes most of its infections in the summer and fall. At one time, summer epidemics of polio were common and greatly feared” (Document Four). This may

Not long after, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who created the national foundation for infantile paralysis (NFIP) had himself paralyzed by polio too. He take this as a wakeup call and then began starting and organizing the massive research to test the effectiveness of polio vaccines which created by Jonas Salk. However, in order to that, require a lot of money, complicated procedures and not to forget, the subject to test the vaccines (Rebecca Skloot).

Roosevelt became president with infantile paralysis (polio), which was diagnosed in 1921, and the public found out.9 Having the American people's president seem weakened by such a disease but push on through expectations showed that little to nothing was going to get in his way and stop him.10 Including FDR's case, close to 25% of those age 21 and older had paralytic cases by the early 1950s.11 Before the vaccine, there was a peak of about 50,000 cases of polio in 1953.12 Concern of the people was also around it's highest point due to the increasing risk of the horrid disease most feared at this time. Hopes for a solution were still going strong. Friends, family, and even strangers kept prayers for those in need. Anything that could be done was done until the vaccine was established. There were even several hundred thousand children placed in a control study and out of the 749,000, only 33 from the vaccinated group developed paralytic polio.13 In addition to this trial and other performed, and conclusion was drawn stating that the vaccine was 80-90% effective against the paralytic branch of polio.14 Chances for a new beginning were showing up all over with this vaccine, even if it only helped those who haven't been diagnosed

With the last outbreak of Polio in the US being in 1979, many today have no recollection of the terror of this disease. The disease primarily infected children, and there seemed to be no pattern to who succumbed to it. No one could feel safe. Polio as a disease presents such horrors that even those who overcome it once can be plagued by its aftereffects in later life. Before vaccines, single outbreaks could devastate entire communities. One outbreak

Once America’s most feared diseases and causing death and paralysis across the country, thanks to vaccination, there are no reports of polio in the United States.

Whens the last time someone developed Polio? Not in a long time, this is because we have developed vaccines to protect us. “Vaccines work by introducing diluted versions of viruses or bacteria into a person's body via injection” (Mandatory Vaccination). Since the discovery of vaccinations the medical world has changed forever. In today’s world many families have strong beliefs against vaccinations due to various myths and misconceptions. Since the discovery scientist have created vaccines for many illnesses around the world. When traveling abroad or anywhere to be precautious ask a doctor about vaccine protocols. This also would help prevent the spread of outbreaks. Everyone should be vaccinated because with everyone's immunity built up outbreaks

The last cases of naturally occurring paralytic polio in the United States were in 1979, when an outbreak occurred among the Amish in several Midwestern states. From

Everyday, the United States faces new threats to public health and well being, and everyday, medicine advances. Updated medical procedures have created a safer, healthier nation than years past. Some of the most important advancements and ideas were created not that long ago. An era of extreme change of the medical world in the United States was the outbreak of poliomyelitis in the 1930s and 1940s. Three decades of research, treatment, and fighting an epidemic led doctors to take a different approach to medicine. This era produced new inventions, new sanitation concerns, and new vaccines. It also stressed the importance of maintaining personal health, and the importance of receiving all vaccines. These medical advancements include the invention

While others see vaccinations as unnecessary, vaccine- preventable diseases have still not disappeared on Earth. The CDC states that although these diseases are not present around certain areas, it is “only one plane ride away” from that area. In countries like Pakistan, the paralytic form of polio is still present with 93 cases in 2013 and 71 in 2014; however, in other countries the virus has largely disappeared. The polio virus itself can be somewhat incubated by a person without symptoms for years and that person can infect anyone around them unintentionally. Unvaccinated Amish missionaries, who traveled to the Philippines in May 2014, brought back measles to Ohio, resulting in 155 people by June 5, 2014 (Vaccine). Measles, having one of the highest record of outbreaks, had 16 outbreaks in the United States resulting in at least 334 cases in 18 states. Vaccine preventable diseases,

It can lead to a loss in muscle movement in the chest, limbs, and throat (“Polio Vaccine”), or even total paralysis (Laidlaw 9). Some symptoms of polio are headaches, a fever, fatigue, muscle pains, and spasms. Most cases of polio start around the age of five. In the United States, there has been a ninety-nine percent decrease in cases of polio since 1988. In the United States the number of polio cases fell from eighteen cases per 100,000 people to fewer than two per 100,000.

The disease poliomyelitis is more commonly known by its alternative name “polio.” The history of this disease dates back into prehistory, but major polio epidemics were not known before the twentieth century. The first clinical description of this disease was provided by a British physician named Michael Underwood, in which he described the disease as debility of the lower extremities. In the 1880s major epidemics started to occur in Europe, then made its way soon after into the United States. The first report of multiple cases was recorded in 1843 and described an outbreak that happened in Louisiana in 1841. The next large outbreak was in Boston in 1893 where there were 26 cases of poliomyelitis. The following year was the first recognized epidemic in the United States which occurred in Vermont with 132 total cases, including 18 deaths. By 1907 there were approximately 2,500 cases of polio reported in New York City alone. By 1910, epidemics of polio were regular events throughout the developed world, mostly in cities during the warmer months. In 1916 there were over 27,000 cases including more than 6,000 deaths due to polio in the United States, with more than 2,000 deaths occurring in New York City alone. Poliomyelitis hit its peak in the 1940s and 1950s; it paralyzed or killed more than half a million people per year.

Polio is an infectious disease that has killed and paralyzed many people (Birth of Jonas Salk and the death of polio in India). It has taken the lives of

B. Signs and Symptoms: Approximately 95 percent of people who are infected with poliovirus will not have any symptoms, however, people who are infected and do not have any polio indicators can still spread the poliovirus. People who become infected with the poliovirus can start having symptoms as soon as four days after being infected, and not have any symptoms for as many as thirty five days. This time period between infection and experiencing symptoms is referred to as “The Incubation Period,” which is when the virus begins to multiply within the cells that line the back of the throat, nose, and intestines(“Signs and symptoms of Polio.” eMedtv.com. Clinaero Inc., 2006-2012. Sunday 4-22-12). For the