The Polio Heroes

Treatment There is no cure for polio.

It is important to immunize children against polio.

Pakistan s Winnable War on Polio

Recovery Many cases of poliomyelitis result in only temporary paralysis.

We may see the eradication of polio this year.

1943), biochemist and Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 1986) Alan M. Dershowitz (B.A.

Since 1988, the number of annual cases of polio worldwide has dropped more than 99.9 .

Constant s story is one of true dedication to polio eradication.

This work enabled Jonas Salk to make an effective polio vaccine.

Nineteen years later, Aseefa is Pakistan s Goodwill Ambassador on Polio Eradication and a powerful advocate of completing her mother s dream of a polio free country.

I was also given vaccines to prevent life threatening infections such as polio and measles.

Depending on the site of paralysis, paralytic poliomyelitis is classified as spinal, bulbar, or bulbospinal.

Vaccine Two types of vaccine are used throughout the world to combat polio.

Widespread public support for polio eradication efforts has been reflected in a parliamentary resolution.

In 2011, a polio outbreak in China was traced back to Pakistan.

Diseases transmitted via the fecal oral route include hepatitis A, polio, and cholera.

He also works to expose fallacies and debunk rumors about polio vaccines.

Cause Poliomyelitis is caused by infection with a member of the genus Enterovirus known as poliovirus (PV).

Transmission Poliomyelitis is highly contagious via the fecal oral (intestinal source) and the oral oral (oropharyngeal source) routes.

And our big idea is that the scientific miracle of this decade should be the complete eradication of poliomyelitis.

A worst case outcome there could set back the fight against polio by decades.

Without respiratory support, consequences of poliomyelitis with respiratory involvement include suffocation or pneumonia from aspiration of secretions.

George had contracted polio shortly after his parents' separation and was unable to visit as often.

With the recent progress on polio, Pakistan has a blueprint for future public health interventions.

Polio today has become an example of the complex problems plaguing Pakistan s state and its society.

SEATTLE The world s progress in fighting polio might be one of the best kept secrets in global health.

Classification The term poliomyelitis is used to identify the disease caused by any of the three serotypes of poliovirus.

Spinal polio Spinal polio, the most common form of paralytic poliomyelitis, results from viral invasion of the motor neurons of the anterior horn cells, or the ventral (front) grey matter section in the spinal column, which are responsible for movement of the muscles, including those of the trunk, limbs, and the intercostal muscles.

Thanks to their efforts and the endeavors of hundreds of thousands of people like them we are achingly close to eradicating polio.

The results of a large clinical trial were promising the gamma globulin was shown to be about 80 effective in preventing the development of paralytic poliomyelitis.

In eradicating polio, Pakistan would not just play its part in eliminating the disease worldwide.

Epidemiology While now rare in the Western world, polio is still endemic to South Asia and Africa, particularly Pakistan and Nigeria respectively.

Albert Bruce Sabin (August 26, 1906 Białystok March 3, 1993) was a Polish American medical researcher best known for having developed an oral polio vaccine.

The main driver of Pakistan s dramatic reduction in polio cases over the last two decades has been leadership at all levels.

India, polio free for the last two years, is well aware that lasting domestic success depends on eradication efforts elsewhere.

Diseases which may be transmitted by contact with feces include bacterial diseases include shigellosis (bacillary dysentery) viral systemic diseases include hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, poliomyelitis, human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes simplex virus parasites include intestinal parasites and infections and inflammations chlamydia infection, gastroenteritis, conjunctivitis, gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted infections.

And on that day, when we come together to celebrate the end of polio, the world will know that it was possible only because of these heroes.

But, thanks to intensive vaccination campaigns, there were only 58 cases of polio in the entire country last year down 70 from 2011.

A recent smear campaign aimed at discrediting polio vaccination, in which several MPs publicly took part, has complicated matters further.

Bulbospinal polio Approximately 19 of all paralytic polio cases have both bulbar and spinal symptoms this subtype is called respiratory or bulbospinal polio.

Following the widespread use of poliovirus vaccine in the mid 1950s, the incidence of poliomyelitis declined dramatically in many industrialized countries.

Building these routine immunization systems has already helped us to eradicate diseases like polio and all but one type of measles.

A polio survivor himself, Lawan Didi founded the Para soccer game an innovative program focused on building the self reliance and self confidence of 3,000 paraplegics.

Pakistan must increase its efforts on polio eradication for reasons that go beyond fulfilling a global health promise (which is reason enough in its own right).