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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffPost-polio syndrome (PPS) refers to a cluster of potentially disabling signs and symptoms that appear decades — an average of 30 to 40 years — after the initial polio illness.
Polio was once one of the most feared diseases in America, responsible for paralysis and death. Shortly after polio reached its peak in the early 1950s, the inactivated polio vaccine was introduced and greatly reduced polio's spread.
Today, few people in developed countries get paralytic polio, thanks to the polio vaccine.
According to some studies, however, up to half the people who had polio at a young age may experience certain effects of the disease many years later — post-polio syndrome.
- Boyer FC, et al. Post-polio syndrome: Pathophysiological hypotheses, diagnosis criteria, medication therapeutics. Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine. 2010;53:34.
- Simionescu L, et al. Post-polio syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 16, 2010.
- Post-polio syndrome — polio's legacy. Clinical Medicine. 2010;10:213.
- Post-polio syndrome fact sheet, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/post_polio/detail_post_polio.htm. Accessed Jan. 15, 2011.
- Tiffreau V, et al. Post-polio syndrome and rehabilitation. Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine. 2010;53:42.
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