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Polio


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I just caught a glimpse of an article that DH pulled up yesterday that I'm going to have to go back and find now. But they were reporting on the rise of polio in Nigeria but it's mutated from the live virus in the vaccines.

 

As soon as I can locate the link, I'll post it here.

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I did find this article at msnbc

Link

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32418446/ns/he...tious_diseases/

 

Article:

LONDON - Polio is spreading in Nigeria and health officials say in some cases it's caused by the vaccine used to fight the paralyzing disease.

 

In July, the World Health Organization issued a warning that this particular virus might extend beyond Africa. So far, 124 Nigerian children have been paralyzed this year — about twice those afflicted in 2008.

 

Nigeria and most other poor nations use an oral polio vaccine because it's cheaper, easier, and protects entire communities. But it's made from a live polio virus which carries a small risk of causing polio. In even rarer instances, the virus in the vaccine can mutate into a deadlier version that ignites new outbreaks.

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A virologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says genetic analysis proves such mutated viruses have caused at least seven separate outbreaks in Nigeria.

 

The vaccine used in the United States and other Western nations is given in shots, which use a killed virus that cannot cause polio.

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Just a weird fact, the kids ped is from India, I believe. He said that when he did his rotations that the polio deaths where what they were updated on every morning during rounds. When I asked him about it 6 months or so ago (DD, who is 2 1/2, is just getting some of the vaccines. DS hasn't started them yet.), he said it wasn't a concern that meningitis, DTP, MMR, and Chicken Pox were. I told him I wasn't worried about chicken pox - I'm the last generation who didn't get the vaccine to prevent them (the days when your parents wanted you exposed to it).

 

My question is, if I asked him today, would he still not be concerned about polio? With all of the International traveling, it's something that would be easily transmitted (much like the gentleman they thought had TB a few years ago) and should be a concern.

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My question is, if I asked him today, would he still not be concerned about polio? With all of the International traveling, it's something that would be easily transmitted (much like the gentleman they thought had TB a few years ago) and should be a concern.

 

My understanding is that the "safe" polio vaccine is still routinely given to children in the United States for that very reason as part of the standard array of childhood vaccinations.

 

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/polio/qandavax.asp

 

You should keep a detailed list of all your child's vaccinations, type, date, etc.

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  • 4 years later...

The inactivated virus is still given routinely in the States. Wild virus has not been eradicated in the countries just south of us. However, since most of us no longer use outhouses or defecate outside on the ground, it hasn't been a serious problem here in a number of yrs, even without the vaccine. When I was young, people were just beginning to put septic tanks in. We used outhouses when we were in MS and AL. Grandpa put in flush toilets at one point, but the pipe ran out into the holler. Mom had a tank and leach field put in for that house around 62 or 63.

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My mother got polio when she was a young girl but the family was smart enough to do physical exercises/treatments constantly on her and she avoided the necessity for an iron lung and most crippled aspects of her muscles except for her throat (voice, swallowing, etc). She ultimately got her voice back after years of "mouthing" a reed from an Obo instrument in her school band. What a shock to her teacher and fellow students when suddenly a sound came out of the instrument. One of those miracle moments for sure.

 

She ultimately died of "post polio" symptions when the remaining useable muscles in the body began to fail because of a lifetime of over use. I cared for her for 11 years to keep her happy and functioning, especially when the medical centers and doctors could/would not help her. They basically did not know how to handle post-polio patients. The final time she needed hospitalization the hospital/doctor really blew it and I totally lost it emotionally, especially since I had to pull the plug on her. Not a nice way to go.

 

Heaven help us if Polio gets a big hold again.

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A lot of people didn't until the polio survivors started reaching their seniors years. You can Google search the topic now, but here is a narrative from one site:

 

Post-polio syndrome (PPS) is a condition that affects polio survivors years after recovery from an initial acute attack of the poliomyelitis virus. Most often, polio survivors start to experience gradual new weakening in muscles that were previously affected by the polio infection. The most common symptoms include slowly progressive muscle weakness, fatigue (both generalized and muscular), and a gradual decrease in the size of muscles (muscle atrophy). Pain from joint degeneration and increasing skeletal deformities such as scoliosis (curvature of the spine) is common and may precede the weakness and muscle atrophy. Some individuals experience only minor symptoms while others develop visible muscle weakness and atrophy.

Post-polio syndrome is rarely life-threatening, but the symptoms can significantly interfere with an individual's ability to function independently. Respiratory muscle weakness, for instance, can result in trouble with proper breathing, affecting daytime functions and sleep. Weakness in swallowing muscles can result in aspiration of food and liquids into the lungs and lead to pneumonia.

 

It should be noted that this is not Polio but the body shutting down from the damage originally done to the body. If you know a person who is a polio survival they should be aware of PPS and be checked regularly.

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It is a shame that some fought so hard to make a comeback from the original attack, only to be struck down anew in later yrs.

 

I expect polio, along with cholera, diphtheria, typhoid, whooping cough and the other "childhood" diseases will come back in force when the sanitation breaks down in our cities. Clean water for drinking and bathing is imperative to combat these diseases. Diarrheal diseases continue to be a serious problem even with our modern sanitation. I once worked in a pediatric hospital. Part of the time I worked in the isolation unit. I got to where I could diagnose the particular bacteria causing a child to be ill, just by smelling the air in the room with that child. the doctors had to do a culture and sensitivity before they knew what was wrong. The nurses would know right away. The nurses also had to get nosy and find out what the reason was that the child contracted the disease so we could teach the mothers how to care for them. Invariably it was poor sanitation, though some diseases are so very contagious that you don't need a serious lapse in sanitation, some are pretty hard to catch. We saw a lot of the hard to catch ones in MS. Some mothers would fill a bottle for a baby from any source available, even an open pond or creek. Some admitted that the dog would lick the baby bottle and then the baby would suck from it. All sorts of dirty habits.

 

Once the hooey hits, breast feeding will become even more important as a means to prevent water born illness in infants. Everyone should also have a really good filter system. One that removes viruses is best, I have one of those, but boiling water that has been filtered thru cloth or sand will also work. Can't emphasize hand washing enough!

Edited by CrabGrassAcres
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Yes, my Mother did a lot of crying and asking "why" after she realized what was happening to her.

 

And you are correct on the other issues too and it does not seem to be an "if" scenerio but a "when". Too many people out there with ego's of supreme power and control for it not to occur eventually.

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Yes and yes it starts going downhill rather quickly which is why I gave up my future and career to do what had to be done. Fate had kept me a single man or I would not have been able to do what was needed. We ended up taking a job together so I could provide her the transportation and assistance to continue working up until the end. Towards the end I had to bathe and handle most of her personal needs since she did not have the strength and eating was a challenge since her throat was partially paralyzed. I don't know who it was harder for, her or me, but I think it was worse for her. Nursing homes could not do the work nor the hospitals since post-polio was new to them at the time. What later shocked me was her memorial services that apparently drew over a thousand people. She was special to a lot of people.

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