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Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staff
Although polio can cause paralysis and death, the vast majority of people who are infected with the poliovirus don't become sick and are never aware they've been infected with polio.
Nonparalytic polio
Some people who develop symptoms from the poliovirus contract nonparalytic polio — a type of polio that doesn't lead to paralysis (abortive polio). This usually causes the same mild, flu-like signs and symptoms typical of other viral illnesses.
Signs and symptoms, which generally last one to 10 days, include:
- Fever
- Sore throat
- Headache
- Vomiting
- Fatigue
- Back pain or stiffness
- Neck pain or stiffness
- Pain or stiffness in the arms or legs
- Muscle spasms or tenderness
- Meningitis
Paralytic polio
In rare cases, poliovirus infection leads to paralytic polio, the most serious form of the disease. Paralytic polio has several types, based on the part of your body that's affected — your spinal cord (spinal polio), your brainstem (bulbar polio) or both (bulbospinal polio).
Initial signs and symptoms of paralytic polio, such as fever and headache, often mimic those of nonparalytic polio. Within a week, however, signs and symptoms specific to paralytic polio appear, including:
- Loss of reflexes
- Severe muscle aches or spasms
- Loose and floppy limbs (flaccid paralysis), often worse on one side of the body
The onset of paralysis may be sudden.
Post-polio syndrome
Post-polio syndrome is a cluster of disabling signs and symptoms that affect some people for decades — an average of 25 to 35 years — after they had polio. Common signs and symptoms include:
- Progressive muscle or joint weakness and pain
- General fatigue and exhaustion after minimal activity
- Muscle atrophy
- Breathing or swallowing problems
- Sleep-related breathing disorders, such as sleep apnea
- Decreased tolerance of cold temperatures
When to see a doctor
Be sure to check with your doctor for polio vaccination recommendations before traveling to a part of the world where polio may still occur naturally, or where oral polio vaccine (OPV) is still used, such as Central and South America, Africa and Asia. In countries that use the OPV — vaccine made with live, but weakened (attenuated) polio virus — the risk of paralytic polio to travelers is extremely low, but not zero.
Additionally, call your doctor if:
- Your child hasn't completed the series of polio vaccinations
- Your child experiences an allergic reaction after receiving polio vaccine
- Your child has problems other than a mild redness or soreness at the vaccine injection site
- You have questions about adult vaccination or other concerns about polio immunization
- You had polio years ago and are now experiencing unexplained weakness and fatigue
- 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.
- Poliomyelitis. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/index.html. Accessed Jan. 16, 2009.
- Simmons Z. Polio and infectious diseases of the anterior horn. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 9, 2009.
- Howard RS. Poliomyelitis and the postpolio syndrome. British Medical Journal. 2005;330:1314.
- 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.
- Shefner JM, et al. Post-polio syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 9, 2009.
- Risk factors. Global Polio Eradication Initiative. http://www.polioeradication.org/risk.asp. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
- Sorenson EJ, et al. Electrophysiological findings in a cohort of old polio survivors. Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System. 2006;11:241.
- Modlin JF. Poliovirus vaccination. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 9, 2009.
- 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.
- Pediarix (prescribing information). Research Triangle Park, N.C.: GlaxoSmithKline; 2008.
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