Poliomyelitis

**Description of virus that causes the disease.**
- Poliovirus contains a single-stranded RNA genome, about 7500 nucleotides long. - The viral particle is about 30 nanometers. - Surrounded by a protein capsid. - Non-enveloped.

**Viral Specificity:**
-Infects humans only

Classification
-The term poliomyelitis is used to identify the disease cause by any three serotypes of poliovirus which are, Asymptomatic, Minor illness, Paralytic poliomyelitis -There are three types of paralytic poliomyelitis:spinal polio, bulbar polio, bulbospinal polio meningitis || 1–2% ||
 * Outcomes of poliovirus infection**
 * ~ Outcome ||~ Proportion of cases ||
 * Asymptomatic || 90–95% ||
 * Minor illness || 4–8% ||
 * Non-paralytic aseptic
 * Paralytic poliomyelitis || 0.1–0.5% ||
 * — Spinal polio || 79% of paralytic cases ||
 * — Bulbospinal polio || 19% of paralytic cases ||
 * — Bulbar polio || 2% of paralytic cases ||

-__ Mild Polio __
-Headache -Nausea -Vomiting -General discomfort -Slight fever for up to three days

__- Nonparalytic Polio __
-Moderate fever -Stiff neck and back -Fatigue -Muscle pain -Headache -Nausea -Vomiting -General discomfort

__ -Paralytic Polio __ -Tremor -Muscle weakness -Fever -Stiffness -Constipation -Muscle pain -Spasms -Difficulty swallowing

-Incubation period is usually 6-20 days, with a maximum of 3-35 days. -Most infection between 7-10 days before and 7-10 days after appearance of symptoms.

Complications
-musle paresis and paralysis can sometimes result in skeletal defromities, tightening of the joints and movement disability. -club foot -

**Common Methods of Transmission:**
- Highly contagious - Spread through human to human contact - Primarily transmitted through the fecal-oral route. - Occasionally transmitted through the fecal-oral route.
 * Contaminated food*
 * Contaminated water*

**Treatment and Prevention :**
-There is no cure for polio. -Treatment for polio mainly focuses on providing relief from the polio symptoms. -There are oral and injectable vaccinations for polio.

-The effects of polio have been known since prehistory. -While now rare in the Western world, polio is still endemic to South Asia and Nigeria.
 * Miscellaneous:**

**Resources accessed**

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