INFANTILE PARALYSIS

INFANTILE PARALYSIS. Infantile paralysis, often called polio, is an acute viral infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route. The term derives from the Greek poliós (πολιός), meaning "grey", myelós (µυελός), referring to the "spinal cord", and the suffix -itis, which denotes inflammation. Although around 90% of polio infections cause no symptoms at all, affected individuals can exhibit a range of symptoms if the virus enters the blood stream. In about 1% of cases the virus enters the central nervous system infecting and destroying motor neurons leading to muscle weakness and acute paralysis. Different types of paralysis may occur depending on the nerves involved. Spinal polio is the most common form, characterized by asymmetric paralysis that most often involves the legs. Bulbar polio leads to weakness of muscles innervated by cranial nerves. Bulbospinal polio is a combination of bulbar and spinal paralysis.

Poliomyelitis was first recognized as a distinct condition by Jakob Heine in 1840. Its cause, poliovirus, was identified in 1908 by Karl Landsteiner. Although major polio epidemics were unknown before the late 19th century, polio was one of the most dreaded childhood diseases of the 20th century. Polio epidemics crippled thousands of people, mostly young children; the disease has caused paralysis and death for much of human history. Polio existed for thousands of years quietly as an endemic pathogen until the 1880s, when major epidemics began to occur in Europe; soon after, widespread epidemics appeared in the United States.

In July, 1918 the city of Dubuque was quarantined due to an especially strong epidemic of the disease. One of the question raised was how to handle children who were visiting relatives in the city when the quarantine was placed into effect. The answer came from Dr. G.H. Summer, secretary of the state board of health:

           M.H. Czizek, City Attorney
           Dubuque, Iowa
           "Hold all children for ten days. Children must then have
           certificates from the health officer of Dubuque showing
           no symptoms of sickness of any kind before leaving. Children
           over sixteen may be permitted to leave now if in perfect
           state of health.
               (Signed)         G.H. Summer

By 1910, much of the world experienced a dramatic increase in polio cases and frequent epidemics became regular events, primarily in cities during the summer months. These epidemics—which left thousands of children and adults paralyzed. This resulted in the "Great Race" towards the development of a vaccine. The polio vaccines developed by Jonas Salk in 1952 and Albert Sabin in 1962 are credited with reducing the global number of polio cases per year from many hundreds of thousands to around a thousand. Enhanced vaccination efforts led by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Rotary International could result in global eradication of the disease.