Poliomyelitis has appeared in epidemic form, become endemic on a global scale, and been reduced to near-elimination, all within the span of documented medical history. Epidemics of the disease appeared in the late 19th century in many European countries and North America, following which polio became a global disease with annual epidemics. During the period of its epidemicity, 1900-1950, the ag...

BACKGROUND Designing effective public health campaigns in areas of armed conflict requires a nuanced understanding of how violence impacts the epidemiology of the disease in question. METHODS We examine the geographical relationship between violence (represented by the location of detonated Improvised Explosive Devices) and polio incidence by generating maps of IEDs and polio incidence during...

Imposition by WHO of mandatory vaccination for international travelers from Pakistan has caused confusion and panic amongst travelers besides the adverse effect on the country's image from the widely reported statement. It is felt that the announced measure is not primarily supported by science but is rather a response to disillusionment in the donors about the repeatedly missed eradication tar...

Vaccination is one of the most valuable and cost-effective strategies available to medicine in the battle to prevent and control infectious diseases. It is considered to be one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century (1). In the Americas, vaccination has brought about the eradication of smallpox in 1970 and of polio in 1991; the interruption of indigenous measles tran...

Post-polio syndrome is a condition characterized by increased muscle weakness, atrophy, fatigue and pain developing several years after the acute polio event. We describe a 52-year-old patient who experienced post-polio syndrome; he had contracted acute paralytic poliomyelitis at 12 months of age, shortly after the third dose of Salk polio vaccine.

India celebrated its victory over polio on 11th February 2014 after an extraordinary fight against the disease for almost two decades since the introduction of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in India. The South-East Asia Region of the World Health Organisation (WHO) was certified polio free, on March 27, 2014 by the WHO’s Regional Certification Commission for polio eradication c...

Live vaccination against polio has effectively prevented outbreaks in most developed countries for more than 40 years, and there remain only a few countries where outbreaks of poliomyelitis by the wild strain still threaten the community. It is expected that worldwide eradication will be eventually achieved through careful surveillance and a well-managed immunization program. The present paper ...

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of post-polio-related fatigue on quality of life. DESIGN Cross-sectional case control study. SUBJECTS Patients without additional health problems that may induce fatigue were selected from among 82 polio survivors. Twenty-six patients with post-polio syndrome and 10 without post-polio syndrome were included. Control group consisted of 30 healthy volunteers. ...

BACKGROUND Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus, which becomes difficult to manage/eradicate in politically unstable areas. The objectives of this study were to determine the movement and management of such polio outbreaks in endemic countries and countries with reoccurring cases of polio and to determine the effect of political instability on polio eradication. M...

Although India was removed from the list of polio endemic countries in January 2012, maintaining the focus on polio vaccination is critically important to prevent reintroduction of the virus. In 2009-2010, we conducted a study to assess the attitudes and practices of frontline health workers in India regarding polio immunization in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. More than 95% of auxiliary nurse midwi...