The Global Eradication of Polio Essays

Polio an American story is a scholarly readable and informative book which covers the lives of many American eminent scientists who struggled a lot to eradicate polio. This book mainly focuses on the mid twentieth century where the people are very eager to find a vaccine to eradicate polio .This book also covers the entire topics from appearance of polio symptoms to post polio syndrome which shows the valuable thesis done by David M. Oshinsky.

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

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

Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is a disease caused by the contraction of the poliovirus. Like influenza, smallpox and cholera, polio is a viral infection. This means that it is a disease caused by the spread of a virus. It spreads rapidly, and usually through person-to-person contact. In addition, this virus can also be distributed through foods or drinks contaminated by infected fecal matter. Although polio is deadly, sometimes, contractors of polio do not show any symptoms. The

Poliomyelitis, also commonly known as polio, is a viral infection that, at one point was virtually eradicated in the US (SOURCE). The last major epidemic of polio was in the early 1950's (SOURCE). Polio was characterized in one of three ways: nonparalytic

The infection is caused by poliovirus. The disease was not known to be contagious until 1905. Most patients are infectious anywhere between seven to ten days, however a patient is still potentially contagious if the virus is present in the throat and feces. The infection can also spread through contact through saliva, but this is less likely. Incubation period for this disease is anywhere between six and twenty days. Around one out of four people with the poliovirus will have flu like symptoms including: sore throat, fever, tiredness, nausea, headache and stomach pain. These symptoms usually last two to five days and usually go away on their own. But some people infected with the poliovirus will develop more serious symptoms that affect the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms like: paralysis, meningitis (an infection in the spinal cord and/or brain), and paresthesia (feeling of pins and needles in the legs). Paralysis can lead to permanent damage and even death. Death is possible because the virus damages the muscles that make it possible to

This is when viremia will occur and the virus will begin to spread. If it does not reach the central nervous system then the patient will only have abortive poliomyelitis. They will have some flu like symptoms and experience a full recovery. As the virus goes further, one may become stricken with aseptic meningitis. This polio is considered non-paralytic, has the same symptoms as abortive poliomyelitis, and irritates the meninges. This causes back and neck pain and stiffness but has a full recovery. The worst case scenario is paralytic poliomyelitis. This occurs when the virus begins replicating in the brain stem and anterior horn causing cell destruction and neurological damage in the form of paralysis. This is very rare and occurs in less than 2% of infections. While paralysis of the legs is most common, it can affect the arms, or worse, spread to the trunk. When the legs are affected, the patient is fitted with braces to help with recovery (Figure 1) If it continues and reaches bulbar polio, the brain stem becomes paralyzed and generally the patient will die from asphyxiation. (Flynn) Almost 15 years later the iron lung was invented to help people at this stage survive, but currently, there was nothing they could do.

Scientists have been trying to determine what caused the polio-like paralysis that first started with cold like symptoms. In an updated article in the San Francisco Chronicle, 2/27/2014, scientists believe there is a link with the virus Enterovirus D68 but the evidence is circumstantial. More research needs to be done to determine if the new strains of the old virus is causing polio-like paralysis in children (Allday, 2017). The CDC has reported this outbreak has occurred in more than 40 states and at least 200 cases reported. Research is finding the D68 enterovirus is related to the virus that causes unexplained paralysis in arms and legs. Researchers believe that once the enteroviruses move outside the gut or airways it can then go after the nerve cells in the spine that control

In 1916, over 27,000 cases of polio were reported nationwide. In 1952, 57,628 cases of polio were reported in the United States. Polio mostly affected children, but it did affect adults and teens. Polio is very contagious and can be spread by nasal and oral contact. Also, can be spread by contact with contaminated feces. Polio had epidemics every few years. Most people who had polio recovered, but others suffered temporary or permanent paralysis and sometimes death. In the United States, the polio vaccine is recommended at 2 and 4 months of age. They are also get the vaccine again twice before entering elementary

During the 1940s and 1950s, iron-lungs supported breathing, allowing time for patients to recover from their infection, but sometimes the nerve-damage and paralysis were permanent. Hundreds of thousands of people used to catch polio every year with one in 200 infections leading to irreversible paralysis and 5 to 10% of these people dying when their breathing muscles become immobilized. Polio still cannot be cured but it can be prevented by vaccination. Thanks to vaccination, polio cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases then, to 416 reported cases worldwide in 2013. The reduction is the result of the global effort to eradicate the disease. More than 10 million people are walking today, who would otherwise

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

As recently at the 1950's, polio was a common disease in the United States.  It was first detected as early as 1789 when doctors recorded small outbreaks of an odd disease accompanied by fever, paralysis and a tendency to attack children.  It wasn't until the summer of 1916, however, that the public began to pay attention.  Twenty-seven thousand people were paralyzed that summer from polio, with most of the victims being children.  This is why the disease was called infantile paralysis, although adults also were stricken by the disease (Smith, An Icon 36-40).   It was later renamed poliomyelitis, referring to the characteristic inflammation (-itis) of the gray (polios) anterior matter of the spinal cord (myelos).

The poliovirus is one of the most transmittable and most contagious viruses that the human population has come in contact with.  The structure of the poliovirus allows it to be able to bind to motor neuron cells within a host’s body and reproduce quickly. Like all virus’s, the poliovirus

Perspectives on the expanded program on immunization in the quest to eradicate polio in Nigeria: A comparative evaluation.