11 Facts About Polio

1. Polio is an infection caused by a virus that affects the whole body including muscles and nerves.
2. There are three types of polio: non-paralytic, spinal paralytic and bulbar—the latter two being the most severe. Spinal paralytic polio can lead to leg paralysis. Bulbar polio could result in a victim’s spending the rest of his life in an iron lung.
3. In 95% of cases, there are no symptoms. A small number of people may have fever, sore throat, headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
4. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralyzed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.
5. The virus is found in saliva and feces of sick people, and is spread by direct contact with sick persons or through the air when a sick person talks, coughs or sneezes. It is also spread by food, water and hands contaminated with infected feces.
6. Polio can strike a person of any age, but children 5 and under comprise 50% of its victims.
7. Polio cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases then, to 1,604 reported cases in 2009. The reduction is the result of the global effort to eradicate the disease.
8. In 2010, only four countries in the world remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988. The remaining countries are Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.
9. Persistent pockets of polio transmission in northern India, northern Nigeria and the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan are the current focus of the polio eradication initiative.
10. A polio outbreak that started in India spread to Tajikistan early in 2010 where it has paralyzed 239 children to date.
11. Because there is no cure for polio, the best protection is prevention. For as little as $0.60 worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.   

Sources:

The Rotary Foundation

UNICEF

World Health Organization