Nickname: Infantile Paralysis

Signs & Symptoms: Poliovirus enters the human body through the mouth and grows in the lymph tissue of the throat and intestines until it spreads to the spinal cord. There it causes death of the nerves and results in permanent muscle paralysis. If paralysis occurs in the muscles used for breathing or swallowing, the infection can be life-threatening.

Spread: As a result of effective immunization programs, cases of polio are rare except in areas or countries with poverty, overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions. It is spread by droplets from an infected person coughing or sneezing or by the fecal-oral route.

Who is at risk: Anyone who is not vaccinated for the virus, especially infants and young children

Prevention:  Polio vaccination should be given in early childhood.

“Though a vaccine has made me rare, I can still put you in a wheelchair”