1. Strep or Sore Throat Slideshow Pictures
2. Take the MRSA Quiz!
3. Infectious Mononucleosis Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

David Perlstein, MD, MBA, FAAP

David Perlstein, MD, MBA, FAAP

Dr. Perlstein received his Medical Degree from the University of Cincinnati and then completed his internship and residency in pediatrics at The New York Hospital, Cornell medical Center in New York City. After serving an additional year as Chief Pediatric Resident, he worked as a private practitioner and then was appointed Director of Ambulatory Pediatrics at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.

View Full Profile

Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

View Full Profile

In this Article

• What is the history of polio?
• What causes polio?
• How is polio spread?
• What are signs and symptoms of polio?
• How is polio diagnosed?
• How is polio treated?
• Is there a vaccine that prevents polio?
• Where can one find more information about polio?
• Polio At A Glance
• Polio Index

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook
/downloads/polio.pdf

March of Dimes
http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals
/14332_1283.asp

World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets
/fs114/en/index.html

http://www.polioeradication.org/content
/general/casecount.pdf

• Polio is caused by a virus.
• Polio has been around for thousands of years.
• Polio is spread person to person by contact with infected mucus, phlegm, feces, or by contact with food and water contaminated by feces of another infected individual.
• Non-paralytic polio is more common than paralytic polio.
• There is no cure for polio.
• Polio can only be prevented through vaccination.
• IPV (inactivated polio vaccine) and OPV (oral "live" polio vaccine) are still used routinely to prevent polio.
• Polio still causes significant illness in lesser developed nations.

References:

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/ACIP-list.htm

Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, 11th Edition (the Pink Book). N.p.: Public Health Foundation, 2009.

"Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication-India, January 2007-May 2009." MMWR 58.26 July 10, 2009: 719-723.

Racaniello, Vincent. "One Hundred Years of Poliovirus Pathogenesis." Virology 344 (2006): 9-16.

"Updated Recommendations of the ACIP Regarding Routine Poliovirus Vaccination." MMWR 58.30 Aug. 7, 2009: 829-830.