Poliomyelitis, its types, and prevention

Hello students and friends, today we going to discuss what is poliomyelitis?

Here you will get to know-

What is poliomyelitis?

Poliomyelitis is caused by which virus?

Poliomyelitis vaccine

How poliomyelitis is spread?

Prevention, complications, symptoms, treatment, and many more.

So, let us start with the meaning of poliomyelitis-

Polio= grey(grey matter of spinal cord)

Mye= Spinal cord

Litis= Inflamation

First-person who discovered polio- Karl Landsteiner & Erwin proper(1908).

Is poliomyelitis is a viral or bacterial disease?

• Poliomyelitis is caused by poliovirus(RNA virus).
• Hence it is an RNA virus, it is non enveloped; outermost covering- capsid(protein coat).
• Poliovirus is an enterovirus(of high infectivity), which invades the intestine.
• It is the viral disease in which the destruction of nerves occurs in the spinal cord.
• The main reservoir of infection lies in the human GI tract(gastrointestinal tract).
• The virus enters through:
• the mouth(oral route) and then multiply in the throat/pharynx[multiply in mucosal cells of throat, then virus goes into the stomach and then to the intestine] and intestine[here virus again multiply in the mucosal cell] during 1-3 week incubation period before going into the blood, then it goes to the spinal cord and infects motor neurons.
• The virus continues to be excreted in saliva for 2-3 days, and in the feces for a further 2-3 weeks.
• Because the inflammation occurs and the signals from the brain and spinal cord are no longer received from that infected nerve area, this leads to atrophy of muscles(muscle wasting), and the muscle shrinks.

In which age polio attacks?

Mostly in children's, but no age is considered as such.

Male:Female= 3:1

How polio is transmitted/spread?

Polio is transmitted through sneezing, coughing, contaminated food & water.

It is highly contagious.

Symptoms

1. 90-95%- asymptomatic
2. 4-8%- symptomatic(non-paralytic)
3. 0.5%- get polio(paralytic polio)
4. The most severe form can cause paralysis and even death of an individual.

Non-paralytic polio symptoms: if an individual has non-paralytic polio then there may be flue like symptoms that are present like coughing, sneezing, etc.

Paralytic polio symptoms: if an individual has paralytic polio then his initial symptoms are flu-like, the later on loss of muscle reflexes is seen, pain in muscles and spasm is seen.

Types of poliomyelitis

1. Non-Paralytic/Pre-Paralytic Poliomyelitis
2. Paralytic Poliomyelitis
3. Spinal poliomyelitis
4. Bulbar poliomyelitis
5. Bulbospinal poliomyelitis

Non-paralytic poliomyelitis:

• If we see early signs and symptoms of patients, the patient develops a high fever with pharyngitis, myalgia, anorexia, nausea and vomiting, and headache with neck stiffness due to meningitis.
• Symptoms subside within 1-2 weeks.

Paralytic poliomyelitis:

• It is not clearly understood which factors are in favor of the development of this type of poliomyelitis but there is some evidence that physical activity and intramuscular injection during the prodrome may be important exacerbating influences.

Spinal polio:

• Severe muscle pain begins frequently with spasm in muscles, then weakness and fasciculation develop.
• The lower limbs being affected more as compared to the upper limbs, it tends to become maximal within 48 hours.
• It causes paralysis in arms and muscles.
• Weakness tends to be asymmetrical.
• Muscle tone is flaccid, the reflexes are initially brisk, then become absent.

Bulbar polio

• Particularly occurs in children.
• It may occur without any limb weakness.
• It is more common in those individuals whose tonsils and adenoids have been removed.
• Adult individuals have spinal as well as bulbar involvement.
• The virus mainly infects neurons of the diaphragm, because of this difficulty in breathing occurs.

Bulbospinal polio:

• Contain symptoms of both spinal and bulbar polio.
• Very lethal and rare.

Treatment

1. Medicines(NSAIDs, Analgesics)
2. Warm towel
3. Heating pad
4. Physical therapy
5. Self-care

Poliomyelitis vaccine-

We can prevent polio through vaccination.

The vaccine can prevent polio in 2 types-

1. Inactivated poliovirus vaccine~ injection given to an individual; a killed form of the virus is used.
2. Oral polio vaccine~ weak strain of poliovirus is used.

How long poliovirus can survive?

• Poliovirus can survive for a long period of time in an external environment.
• It survives 4 months in water and 6 months in feces.
• Polio is more likely to occur in the rainy season, overcrowding area, and area with poor sanitization.
• Polio is present only in Pakistan, Afghanistan & Nigeria.

Incubation period

It incubates in 7-14 days.

Complications

As severity increases,

• Stiffness in the neck occurs.
• Joints flexed; muscles become painful and tender.
• When we do passive stretching it provokes painful spasm.

Prevention of poliomyelitis

• If a patient has had an attack of poliomyelitis, then he should be immunized with a vaccine.
• There is no cure, it can only be prevented through vaccination at an early stage.
• If the polio vaccine is given multiple times to a child then it can protect the child for the whole life.

Hope you all find this helpful for you, if you have any query related to this topic or any other topic then you all are free to contact me via contact us or you can also ask your doubts on the comment box. Thank you! 

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