Poliomyelitis and world childhood

• April 24, 2024

Faced with the resurgence of polio in some countries previously free of disease , the World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that as long as there is only one infected creature, the childhood of all the countries of the world they run the risk of contracting polio.

In India, a girl crawls on the floor of an orphanage with her knees peeled by wounds; In the Congo, a small one with big eyes is tied to a wooden chair due to the paralysis of his legs. Nobody like the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, to tell the stories of thousands of poor girls and boys who are the most exposed to the infection.

Diagnosis in minors

Most pediatricians agree that poliomyelitis affecting infants is usually mild, while severe disease is more likely in older children and adults.

According to information from the pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme from Spain, polio can be diagnosed from typical symptoms, but it is confirmed by identifying poliovirus in a stool analysis and when detecting high values ​​of antibodies against the virus in the blood.

The most serious complication of polio is permanent paralysis. Although paralysis occurs in one in every hundred cases, permanent weakness of one or more muscles is quite frequent. Sometimes, the part of the brain responsible for breathing may be affected and cause weakness or paralysis in the chest muscles.

Complications after 20 years with polio

During the epidemics of the 1940s and 1950s in many countries of the world, this complication led to the widespread use of the steel lung, an uncomfortable mechanical device that facilitated breathing.

Today, death from polio is rare; although some people develop other complications after 20 or 30 years of having suffered a poliomyelitis attack. This disease (post-polio syndrome) consists of progressive muscle weakness, which is often a cause of severe disability.

Prevention when growing up and traveling

The polio vaccine is included in routine immunizations for minors. In the industrialized countries it is not recommended to vaccinate, for the first time, people over 18 years of age, since the risk of acquiring poliomyelitis in these circumstances is extremely low.

Adult people who have never been immunized and who must travel to an area where polio still represents a health problem should be vaccinated.

Poliomyelitis is not cured and antiviral medications do not affect the course of the disease. However, if the muscles of respiration are weakened, an artificial ventilator can now be used for breathing.