April 24-30 is the World Immunization Week, during which doctors draw the attention of the population to the importance and necessity of vaccination. Eliminating polio is our common future. It is important to follow the National Calendar of preventive vaccinations to prevent the disease. Ukraine has joined the European and World Initiative for Poliomyelitis Eradication, a worldwide campaign that has reduced the number of cases of the disease by more than 99% since 1988. In Ukraine in 2021, 2 cases of polio among unvaccinated children were registered. The polio outbreak proves how important immunization is for preventing infectious diseases. There is no cure for poliomyelitis, only vaccination effectively prevents the disease from occurring. To get vaccinated, contact a medical institution or family doctor.
What do you need to know about polio?
Poliomyelitis - children's spinal paralysis, an acute viral disease caused by poliovirus damage to the gray matter of the spinal cord and characterized by a predominant pathology of the central nervous system. It occurs as a result of infection with one of the three types of poliomyelitis viruses. The causative agent of poliomyelitis (poliovirus hominis) belongs to the group of picornaviruses of the family of enteroviruses (intestinal viruses) and exists in the form of three independent types (1, 2 and 3). The virus is stable in the external environment, tolerates freezing and drying well. It is not destroyed by digestive juices and antibiotics. It dies when boiled, under the influence of ultraviolet radiation and disinfectants. The incidence of poliomyelitis prevails in the summer and autumn months. Children aged 6 months to 5 years are more often affected. Most diseases are associated with the type 1 virus. After the disease, a stable, type-specific immunity is formed. Clinical manifestations of poliomyelitis are diverse. In more than 90% of infected people, it is asymptomatic, in 4-8% - in an abortive form without movement disorders. Only 1-10 out of every thousand susceptible persons (0.1-1.0%) develop a paralytic form of the disease with the development of paralysis and paresis.
Clinical signs of paralytic forms of poliomyelitis:
acute onset of the disease
increase in body temperature
headache
sore throat
cold
vomiting and diarrhea
sudden gait disturbance
muscle weakness
pain in the limbs
violation of skin sensitivity
the development of acute lethargic paralysis occurs from several hours to 1-5 days
How can you get infected with the polio virus?
The source of infection is patients with paralytic and non-paralytic forms of poliomyelitis or virus carriers. Transmission of the causative agent of poliomyelitis occurs from person to person. The main mechanism of transmission of the virus is fecal-oral, which is carried out through dirty hands, toys, infected water and food, and is carried by flies. The poliomyelitis virus persists in the environment for a long time - up to 3 months in water, up to 6 months with feces in the soil. Airborne transmission of the virus is also likely. Discharges from the upper respiratory tract and bowel movements are contagious.
How long is a polio patient contagious?
The virus is released from the upper respiratory tract only in the acute preparalytic period, with bowel movements - for a longer time. The most intensive release of the virus from the patient occurs in the first two weeks of the disease, but it can continue for 4-6 weeks from the onset of the disease.
How to prevent polio infection?
Children must be vaccinated against poliomyelitis according to the Preventive Vaccination Calendar free of charge for children aged 2, 4, 6, 18 months, 6 and 14 years. Adults and tourists traveling to countries where poliomyelitis is registered must be vaccinated against poliomyelitis at their own expense.
Everyone can contribute to ensure that children receive vaccinations. Society should know about the danger of poliomyelitis and the effectiveness of vaccination.
With what signs of illness in a child should you immediately seek medical help?
An increase in body temperature, pain in the limbs, throat, head, runny nose, vomiting and diarrhea, inability to stand. At the first signs of the disease, the patient must be isolated and hospitalized in an infectious disease hospital.
Comments