The Late Effects of Polio
By Post-Polio Health International
This is a summary of the original. Complete Article
For Polio Survivors
“Do you know that there are 11-15 million other individuals who had polio living in the world today?
Although some people think ‘polio does not exist anymore,’ even now the poliovirus is causing poliomyelitis in under-vaccinated children. You may live in a country that is still trying to eradicate the poliovirus and where there are barriers to education, employment and healthcare for survivors. Or, you may live where cases of acute polio no longer occur, but where you have to challenge the status quo that excludes people with disabilities from full participation in life. In either case, for you, polio still exists.
There are long-term physical consequences to having had poliomyelitis.
New symptoms recognized by the medical community that may relate to prior polio include:
unaccustomed fatigue – either rapid muscle tiring or feeling of total body exhaustion;
new weakness in muscles, both those originally affected and those seemingly unaffected;
pain in muscles and/or joints;
sleeping problems;
breathing or swallowing problems;
and/or decreased ability to tolerate cold temperatures.
Any combination of the symptoms may affect your ability to conduct customary daily activities such as climbing stairs, walking, lifting, etc.”
For Families and Friends
“The Experience of having had Poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) is a Very Personal One.
Having the acute illness can result in no hospitalization to isolation and months, even years, of rehabilitation. Memories of polio vary as well. Survivors who had polio as children may have no conscious memory of the illness or subsequent rehabilitation, whereas some survivors vividly remember the pain and paralysis of the acute infection and their medical treatments. The care differs from country to country, from decade to decade, and from rural communities to cities.
Poliomyelitis is caused by any of three serotypes of poliovirus.
The major illness types include non-paralytic and paralytic poliomyelitis. The poliovirus damages motor nerve cells and, consequently, the muscles instructed by those nerves are temporarily or permanently paralyzed. Acute polio does not infect sensory nerves, so sensation is not affected. Paralytic poliomyelitis can be classified as spinal, bulbar or spino-bulbar. Bulbar is the most serious form of polio and involves the part of the brain dealing with the vital functions of respiration and swallowing.
The new problems facing your loved one are not caused primarily by the poliovirus, but are problems secondary to having polio.
Polio survivors experiencing new symptoms have not been re-infected nor are they contagious. They need your understanding and support.
Educating yourself about the many facets of the late effects of polio is the first step in determining your role in a management plan grounded in the commitment of your loved one to make lifestyle changes.”
This article was published courtesy of Post-Polio Health International (www.post-polio.org).