How Does Polio Attack Children?
Polio is a hazardous disease; mainly the children are attacked by this disease. It is also known as ‘infantile paralysis or acute anterior poliomyelitis’. Mainly it occurs in epidemic form. Though it attacks children only, yet anybody can catch it. Most of the polio patient dies and those who survive get paralyzed for life. In the USA about 33,344 people were attacked by polio in 1950. In 1952 a big epidemic of polio spread in Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Japan, Singapore, Korea and India.
Do you know how people catch polio and what are its effects on the body?
Polio is caused by virus which enters the mouth from the air and reaches to the intestine and from where it goes to the blood through nerves. Finally, it attacks the brain and the central nervous system. The cells of the spinal chord get damaged by the virus. When these nerve cells get diseased the muscles they control, cannot move. They are paralyzed. Any part of the body can be attacked by polio virus. When the polio virus enters the body, the patient develops mild headache. The patient get fever, his throat become sore and he has 
the feeling of vomiting. Patient feels sleepy. The temperature of the body shoots up in two or three days. Severe pain occurs in the body. The neck of the patient becomes hard and finally some part of his body gets paralyzed. If the virus has affected the legs, the patient cannot move. On the other hand, if the virus has affected the upper part of the spinal chord, the patient cannot breathe properly and he may even die. Dr. Jonas Salk of the USA developed an antipolio vaccine in 1955. This vaccine was developed by killing the polio virus taken from the monkey’s kidney. Three injections of this vaccine taken at regular intervals protect against the polio infection. Later an oral vaccine for polio was developed by Albert Sabin of the USA. One gets the complete protection against polio, if this medicine is taken three times at the interval of one month. This medicine was developed by weakening the live virus of polio. Herald Cox of the USA developed one more cheap antipolio medicine by killing the living virus. One dose of this medicine is enough to protect the body against polio attack.
My father got Polio in 1953, I was born in 1966, my mother and I have always wondered if anything from his Polio could have been passed on to me? I am 44 and have had numerous physical problems that a person of my age typically don’t get, It is like my body is 15 to 20 years older than my age.
Have there been any studies on this?
Thank You!