Polio

Polio once crippled thousands of children every year in industrialised nations. The advent of vaccines in the late 1950s effectively ended the threat of Polio to the developed countries. Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. The virus usually enters the body via the mouth, and multiplies in the gut. Most people infected by the virus show no signs of ill health. Iinfection can cause fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. Around one in 200 people who are infected with polio become irreversibly paralysed. Sites listed here offer information, advice and facts about polio in adults and children.