Poliomyelitis
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Poliomyelitis

  • Age:
    • Vaccination of children aged 2, 4, 6, 18 months, 6 years and 14 years

Description of the disease

Poliomyelitis is a viral infectious disease caused by the poliovirus that affects the nervous, lymphatic and gastrointestinal systems. Most often, children under 4 years of age are exposed to the virus, there are cases of the disease in teenagers. The virus is transmitted by airborne, fecal-oral route: dirty hands, secretions of an infected person, unwashed products, contaminated water. The virus dies under the influence of high temperature and disinfectants. The danger of the disease is the effect on the spinal cord and brain, which can lead to paralysis.

  • Treatment

    Treatment of a mild clinical form is symptomatic, with the development of complications, hospitalization in an infectious disease hospital and additional consultation of narrow specialists is indicated.

  • Symptoms

    The incubation period is 14 days, after which the following symptoms, depending on the form of the disease, appear:

    • Asymptomatic (carrier) – dangerous because a person unintentionally infects others;
    • Abortive - proceeds in the form of an intestinal infection, possible catarrhal phenomena of the upper respiratory tract, without damage to the central nervous system;
    • Meningeal - characterized by an increase in body temperature to feverish numbers (up to 39-40 degrees), headache, vomiting, symptoms of intoxication, pain in the lower back;
    • Paralytic: occurs less often, characterized by an acute onset, febrile temperature (38-40 degrees), intestinal disorders, then paralysis of the limbs, which can last up to 7-10 days, possible paralysis of the facial muscles, after which muscle functions are restored, but sometimes partial paralysis remains.

  • Diagnostics

    Poliomyelitis is diagnosed by clinical symptoms with the help of laboratory (virological) studies of the material: mucus from the nasopharynx, feces, cerebrospinal fluid, serologically (detection of antibodies and/or antigen in the blood). Sometimes an analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid is required.