how does an oral polio vaccine works?

Polio Is Deadly Still

One of the most feared diseases years ago was Polio. This disease nowadays is still as deadly but because of the knowledge people were able to successfully get from this disease, this has become a disease that is now manageable and less scary. Thousands of children have died because of this disease which caused an outbreak during the 1950s. The case of polio became sporadic when it already hit the 19th century. But just when man thought it saw the worst of polio, it came back with a vengeance during the 20th century when it reached epidemic proportions. But thanks to a certain Jonas Salk, the oral polio vaccine became available to address the problem that was polio. That was the last time polio caused a lot of panic among people.

Today, people can now fight against polio using oral polio vaccine to protect them from contracting it and causing them their lives.

Know About Polio

But how does polio come about? What causes it? Let’s try to understand this type of disease and why it is a deadly one if you don’t get vaccinated.

This diseases called polio is caused by a virus. The spread of polio is through contaminated water or food. They also say that close contact to a polio virus can also be a cause for a person to get polio. Once the person gets the polio virus in his body, this virus would then invade the nervous system and can inflict total paralysis in just a matter of time. Although most cases of polio are reported to occur in kids, this disease can occur to anyone in any age bracket.

 

From the blood, the polio virus then attacks your motor neurons which are located in your spinal cord. As we already know, the motor neurons are the ones responsible for transmitting those messages to the brain so our limbs can move. But with the motor neurons attacked and destroyed, flaccid paralysis can happen. Eventually, as polio progresses, the size of your muscles will then be decreasing.

Symptoms Will Show

When a person is invaded by the polio virus, there will be some symptoms that are going to be manifested. The initial symptoms of this disease are fever and fatigue. Other symptoms may also include headaches, vomiting, and a feeling of stiffness in the neck and you will feel some pains in your limbs.

These symptoms may show in different severity and the progress may be slow or faster depending on how your body reacts to the disease.

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