What causes infantile paralysis?

The polio virus enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with the stool of an infected person. Polio is more common in infants and young children and occurs under conditions of poor hygiene. Paralysis is more common and more severe when infection occurs in older individuals.

Which is known as the infantile paralysis?

polio, in full poliomyelitis, also called infantile paralysis, acute viral infectious disease of the nervous system that usually begins with general symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea, fatigue, and muscle pains and spasms and is sometimes followed by a more serious and permanent paralysis of muscles in one or …

What’s the difference between infantile paralysis and polio?

Infantile paralysis (polio): Infantile paralysis is an old synonym for poliomyelitis, an acute and sometimes devastating viral disease. Man is the only natural host for poliovirus. The virus enters the mouth and multiplies in lymphoid tissues in the pharynx and intestine.

Can you recover from polio paralysis?

Between 2 and 10 out of 100 people who have paralysis from poliovirus infection die, because the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe. Even children who seem to fully recover can develop new muscle pain, weakness, or paralysis as adults, 15 to 40 years later. This is called post-polio syndrome.

Who is most at risk for polio?

Polio (poliomyelitis) mainly affects children under 5 years of age. 1 in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

What type of virus is polio?

Polioviruses are small single-stranded RNA viruses that belong to the Enterovirus subgroup of the family Picornaviridae. Humans are the only reservoir for polio virus.

What is another name for polio?

Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus.

What are the signs of polio in a child?

Signs and symptoms, which can last up to 10 days, include:

• Fever.
• Sore throat.
• Headache.
• Vomiting.
• Fatigue.
• Back pain or stiffness.
• Neck pain or stiffness.
• Pain or stiffness in the arms or legs.

What gender is most affected by polio?

Sex is a risk factor for polio, with a slight predominance found in males, who are more at risk for developing paralytic polio (8) (9). Adult females are also at risk if they are pregnant (10) (11). Other risk factors for polio, immune deficiency and malnu- trition, are influenced by gender.

What are the 3 types of polio called?

There are three wild types of poliovirus (WPV) – type 1, type 2, and type 3. People need to be protected against all three types of the virus in order to prevent polio disease and the polio vaccination is the best protection.

Do Mosquitoes spread polio?

At the beginning of this century, it was widely believed that poliovirus was transmitted by insects. The mosquito had been shown to be the vector of yellow fever, and an insect vector was thought to explain the seasonal patterns of poliomyelitis as well.