POLIO: THE MOST DREADED CHILDHOOD DISEASE OF THE 1940-50S

POLIO: THE MOST DREADED CHILDHOOD DISEASE OF THE 1940-50S

Polio is a crippling infectious disease that is often fatal. Children under the age of five are especially susceptible. Although periodic epidemics occurred during the late 19th century, it was the spike in prevalence that occurred in the 1940s and early 1950s that triggered the start of the worldwide campaign of polio vaccination.

Polio is caused by the very contagious and resilient poliovirus and spreads from person-to-person, most commonly though contact with infected feces. Feces can remain infectious for several weeks, as can food, water, or objects contaminated by feces. Approximately 72% of people who catch polio show no symptoms. Twenty-five percent develop flu-like symptoms (for example, sore throat, fever, tiredness, headache, nausea, abdominal pain) within a week or two after infection. A small proportion of these people will go on to develop more severe symptoms such as paresthesia (burning or prickling limb pain), meningitis (infection of brain and spinal cord), limb weakness, and paralysis that may lead to permanent disability and death if the respiratory muscles are affected.