What Is Polio, What Caused Polio, How Does Polio Affect?

Polio or poliomyelitis is a contagious disease that can lead to lifelong disability and can be fatal. There is no cure for it, but life can be saved with the help of a specific vaccine.

Unfortunately, diseases like the poliovirus have not yet been brought under control in Pakistan, but treatment and polio immunizations are underway across the country.

What Is Polio?

Polio or poliomyelitis is a rapidly spreading deadly disease caused by the poliovirus; it attacks the nervous system and can cause muscle weakness in the legs and other parts of the body. In some cases, it can cause death in just a few hours.

How is Polio Transmitted?

The poliovirus is present in water or food contaminated with the feces of an infected person and can enter the body of healthy people through the mouth. The number of viruses multiplies in the body. It is excreted from the infected person's body in places where it quickly enters another human body.

What Are The Symptoms Of Poliovirus?

Symptoms of poliovirus include fever, fatigue, a headache, stiff neck, nausea, and limb pain.

Physical limbs, sudden weakness/paralysis in most limbs are primarily disproportionate and permanent.

Who Is At A Higher Risk Of Contracting Polio Disease?

The risk of polio is present for everyone, but polio mainly affects children under five who have not been vaccinated against poliovirus.

What Are The Effects Of Polio?

One of the first effects of polio is that one out of every 200 people infected with polio develops an incurable paralysis (usually in the legs).

Then there are paralyzed people, with 5 to 10 percent dying from the virus that causes their respiratory muscles to stop moving.

And third, polio also causes paralysis of the legs and arms, which is impossible to treat and permanently cripples children.

Types Of Poliovirus

There are three types of poliovirus: type 1, type 2, and type 3. We must be preserved against all 3 types of poliomyelitis to prevent poliovirus, and the polio vaccination is the best solution. Two vaccines are used to defend against poliovirus, the oral polio vaccine and inactivated poliovirus vaccine.

Which Regions Are Polio-Free?

We should be thankful for the global polio eradication initiative in 1988; below are the regions that are now polio-free regions:

• Americas
• Europe
• Western Pacific
• Southeast Asia

The poliomyelitis vaccine was unveiled in 1953 and made accessible in 1957. Afterward, cases of polio dropped in the USA.

Which Countries Have Polio Cases?

Poliovirus is persistent in Pakistan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan. Eradicating polio will benefit the world in terms of health and economy. Eliminating poliovirus can save approximately $40–50 billion over the next twenty years.

Tags: Polio, Poliomyelitis, Polio Treatment, Polio Symptoms, Polio Causes, Polio Vaccine, Poliovirus Vaccination, Polio-Free Countries