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Definition

By Mayo Clinic staff

Polio is a contagious viral illness that in its most severe form causes paralysis, difficulty breathing and sometimes death.

In the U.S., the last case of naturally occurring polio happened in 1979. Today, despite a concerted global eradication campaign, poliovirus continues to affect children and adults in Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises taking precautions to protect against polio if you're traveling anywhere there's a risk of polio. If you're a previously vaccinated adult who plans to travel to an area where polio is occurring, you should receive a booster dose of inactivated poliovirus (IPV). Immunity following a booster dose lasts a lifetime.

Symptoms
References
  1. Polio disease - Questions and answers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/print.do?url=http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/dis-faqs.htm. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
  2. Poliomyelitis. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/index.html. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
  3. Simmons Z. Polio and infectious diseases of the anterior horn. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 9, 2009.
  4. Howard RS. Poliomyelitis and the postpolio syndrome. British Medical Journal. 2005;330:1314.
  5. Atkinson W, et al. Poliomyelitis. In: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. 10th ed. Washington D.C.: Public Health Foundation; 2008:101.
  6. Shefner JM, et al. Post-polio syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 9, 2009.
  7. Risk factors. Global Polio Eradication Initiative. http://www.polioeradication.org/risk.asp. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
  8. Sorenson EJ, et al. Electrophysiological findings in a cohort of old polio survivors. Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System. 2006;11:241.
  9. Modlin JF. Poliovirus vaccination. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 9, 2009.
  10. Polio vaccine: What you need to know. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-IPV.pdf. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
  11. Pediarix (prescribing information). Research Triangle Park, N.C.: GlaxoSmithKline; 2008.
DS00572 March 5, 2011

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