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Poliomyelitis


Poliomyelitis (also referred to as polio) is an infection caused by the poliovirus, a virus of the Enterovirus genus, family Picornaviridae. Poliovirus is a single-stranded RNA virus with a protein capsid. In its most acute cases, it selectively destroys lower motor neurons of the spinal cord and brainstem which results in unilateral flaccid weakness or paralysis of the limbs. It may also cause death due to acute respiratory arrest. The illness can be characterized as a "remembered" disease, since it has been largely eradicated throughout the second half of the 20th century; however, the World Health Organization estimates there are still twenty to thirty million survivors alive. The global polio pandemic of the 1950's has had historical ramifications on the course of medicine, since it spurred the creation of the first Intensive Care Units and launched the first mass inoculation campaigns.