Pathology and Epidemiology of Anterior Poliomyelitis

Anterior Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease that attacks the anterior horn of the spinal cord. Poliomyelitis translates to grey spinal matter inflammation. Polio is caused by a picorna virus that enters the body through mucus membranes and then multiplies in the throat and being an acidophile, can survive well in the stomach and small intestine. When viremia occurs and persists, the virus will penetrate the capillary wall. Once this happens, it enters the central nervous system and begins attacking motor neurons. Polio is tissue specific and will only multiply and attack neurons. “this strict neuronotropism and definite tissue specificity of poliomyelitis virus is reflected not only in its limited adult host range but aso in its inability to multiply in the undifferentiated embryonic chick or mouse tissues in which so many other viruses have been cultivated.” (Sabin) Picornaviridae have no envelope and are are an exceptionally small, single stranded, positive sense RNA. Its replication takes place in the cytoplasm and it is also distinguished by its internal ribosomal entry site.

While polio is also referred to as infantile paralysis, it does not only affect children. It does not discriminate and the older one is when they contract it, the more likely paralysis becomes. Polio is spread person to person, mainly through the fecal to oral route. This particular route can occur when drinking water comes into contact with fecal matter and is not properly treated, improper or a lack of hand washing after coming into contact with feces, preparing food after such, or in the presence of fecal matter, or even disease vectors like the common house fly.

While 90% of the infected are actually asymptomatic, the other 10% have much to...

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...titute and continue to quarantine people. People were very against the quarantine. If one could not set up a sterile environment in the home, they were forced to go to the hospital. In this time, people were afraid of the hospital, as it was not clean and many died from secondary infections when they went in. Many hid their sick loved ones which only led to more infections. Houses were marked with placards (figure 5) warning people of the infected and guards were stationed at rail stations to stop the sick from traveling.

Due to the high rate of infection and the lack of knowledge about the disease, all researchers could do was use observational epidemiology and inform the public of where the outbreaks were occurring and how many people were infected while they continued to search for a cure. A cure in the shape of a vaccine that wouldn’t come for another 40 years.