Essay Example on Polio Virus Organism Poliovirus is a positive stranded RNA

Polio Virus Organism Poliovirus is a positive stranded RNA virus non enveloped protein capsid1 It is belong to a family of Picornaviridae1 Genus of virus is enterovirus species is human enterovirus C1 The incubation period is usually 7 to 21 days and it can survive in an acidic pH environment2 Disease Caused poliomyelitis Polio is caused by a virus that infects the intestinal tract gastrointestinal tract sometimes spread towards CNS and other parts of the body3 Most infections do not cause serious illness However some people may develop meningitis or become paralyzed4 Cause debilitating muscle disorder by damaging neurons motor 5 Polio most commonly effects children less than 6 months causes asymmetric paralysis Most infections are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and also paralytic and non paralytic4 Symptoms a Mild symptoms include fever tiredness headache sore throat nausea and vomiting3 b In some cases the illness becomes more severe and symptoms include severe muscle pain and stiffness in the neck and back Muscle paralysis may occur4 c In a small percentage of cases and death may occur if breathing muscles become paralyzed3 Detection Diagnosis Polio is usually associated with travel to a country where it does occur if you have been exposed to someone diagnosed with polio and have experienced the symptoms described see your health care providers 

Other way of diagnosis is symptoms that resemble polio Laboratory test for diagnosis by viral isolation and serology6 a Throat culture b Stool culture c Cerebrospinal fluid Treatment There is no specific course of treatment The goal is to minimize and attempt to control the symptoms of the infection6 Symptomatic support includes breathing assistance antibiotics for urinary tract infections application of moist heat to reduce muscle pain and spasms painkillers to reduce headaches muscle pain and spasms and physical therapy5 Physical therapy can be corrective shoes or braces and also active immunization can play role in curing Polio5 Mode of Transmission Epidemiology Polio is very contagious and infectious disease that only infects humans Its mean of transmission is person to person contact7 Polio portal of entry into the body is via oral fecal route although oral oral route may account for some cases7 Transmission can also occur in areas of poor sanitation where there are contaminated water and food5 Virus resides in the intestinal tract and mucus in the nose and throat3 and also replicates Prevention The best form of prevention is vaccination There are two types of polio vaccines inactivated polio vaccine IPV and oral polio vaccine OPV 8 In addition it is recommended to get vaccinated for polio if you plan to travel to Africa and Asia where polio still exists8 Historic Importance 1789 British physician Michael Underwood record first clinical description9 1894 The first outbreak of polio epidemic in the US occurs with 132 cases9 1979 The last case of wild type polio in the US reported and in1980s Post polio syndrome identified by physicians9 1955 first polio vaccine discovered9 1999 Inactivated polio vaccine replaced oral polio vaccine as the recommended form of polio immunization in the US9 Current Impact Since 1979 the only polio disease cases reported in the United States have been imported from other countries or associated with the oral polio vaccination which is no longer offered in the United States10 Worldwide polio cases have fallen from 350 000 in 1988 to 407 in 2013 marking a decline in reported cases to more than 99 percent10 

The Americas Europe and SouthEast Asia and Western Pacific have been certified as polio free10 Currently Afghanistan Nigeria and Pakistan are the polio endemic countries10 References 1 Yin Murphy Marguerite Picornaviruses Picornaviruses January 17 1996 Accessed November 28 2017 http www ncbi nlm nih gov books NBK7687 2 Agent Information Sheet AIS Polio Virus August 23 2012 Accessed November 28 2014 http www bu edu rohp files 2012 08 Polio pdf 3 Poliomyelitis WHO October 1 2014 Accessed November 28 2017 http www who int mediacentre factsheets fs114 en 4 Polio Diseases and Conditions Polio May 11 2014 Accessed November 28 2017 http www mayoclinic org diseases conditions polio basics causes con 20030957 5 He Yongning Steffen Mueller Paul Chipman Carol Bator Xiaozhong Ping Valerie Bowman Suchetana Mukhopadhyay Eckard Wimmer Richard Kuhn and Michael Rossmann American Society for Microbiology Journal of Virology Complexes of Poliovirus Serotypes with Their Common Cellular Receptor CD155 April 1 2003 Accessed November 28 2017 http jvi asm org content 77 8 4827 full view long pmid 12663789 6 Board A D A M Poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis January 9 2013 Accessed November 28 2017 http www ncbi nlm nih gov pubmedhealth PMH0002375 7 Poliomyelitis Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine Preventable diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention May 7 2012 Accessed November 28 2017 http www cdc gov vaccines pubs pinkbook downloads polio pdf 8 Green Nicole Polio Kids Health the Web s Most Visited Site about Children s Health January 1 2014 Accessed November 28 2017 http kidshealth org parent infections bacterial_viral polio html 9 NMAH Polio Timeline NMAH Polio Timeline Accessed November 28 2017 http amhistory si edu polio timeline 10 12 Our Progress Against Polio Centers for Disease Control and Prevention May 1 2014 Accessed November 28 2017 http www cdc gov polio progress index htm