WHAT IS POST POLIO SYNDROME
Post Polio Syndrome is a poorly understood condition that can affect people who have had polio in the past.
Polio is a viral infection that used to be common in the UK, but is now rare.
Most people who had Polio would have fought off the infection without even realising they were infected.
Some people with Polio would have had paralysis, muscle weakness and shrinking of the muscles. But usually, these problems would have either gone away over the following weeks or months, or remained the same for years afterwards.
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Post Polio Syndrome is where some of these symptoms return or get worse many years or decades after the original polio infection.
SYMPTOMS OF POST POLIO SYNDROME
Post Polio Syndrome can include a wide range of symptoms that develop gradually over time, including:
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persistent fatigue (extreme tiredness)
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muscle weakness
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shrinking muscles
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muscle and joint pain
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The condition can have a significant impact on everyday life, making it very difficult to get around and carry out certain tasks and activities. The symptoms tend to get gradually worse over many years, but this happens very slowly and treatment may help slow it down further.
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Post Polio Syndrome is rarely life-threatening, although some people develop breathing and swallowing difficulties that can lead to serious problems, such as chest infections.
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WHO'S AFFECTED
Post Polio Syndrome only affects people who've had polio. It usually develops 15 to 40 years after the infection.
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The condition has become more common in the UK in recent years, because of the high number of Polio cases that occurred during the 1940s and 1950s, before routine vaccination was introduced. It's estimated that there are around 120,000 people living in the UK who survived Polio when they were younger. Some of these have, or will develop, Post Polio Syndrome.
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It's not known exactly how many Polio survivors are or will be affected by Post Polio Syndrome. Estimates vary from as low as 15% to as high as 80%.
WHAT CAUSES POST-POLIO SYNDROME?
The exact cause of post Polio Syndrome is unclear. It's not known whether anything can be done to prevent it.
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The leading theory is that it's the result of the gradual deterioration of nerve cells in the spinal cord (motor neurones) that were damaged by the Polio virus. This would explain why the condition can take years to appear.
Post Polio Syndrome isn't contagious. The theory that the Polio virus may lie dormant in your body, causing Post Polio Syndrome when it becomes reactivated at a later stage, has been disproven.
It's not clear why only some people who've had polio develop Post Polio Syndrome. Those who had severe Polio when they were younger may be more likely to develop the condition.
Contacts us: 0800 043 1935
Email us: info@britishpolio.org.uk
Frances Rosbotham
Frances contracted polio at four years old in 1947 and spent years in hospital, with lasting physical effects. Despite this, she built a full life, raised two sons, and remains grateful for her family and resilience.
I contracted Polio in 1947 at the age of 4 years. My parents had just lost my little brother Stewart at the age of 2 years, so things must have been very hard for them. I was sent to an Isolation Hospital for a few months, then transferred to a children’s hospital in Marple Cheshire. I was there for about 2 years but cannot remember very much about that.
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When I came home, I attended school part-time, then at age 11 years the doctors decided that I needed an operation on my spine, so I went into Bolton Royal Infirmary. I was there for a few days when they came to take me on a stretcher to the plaster theatre. They then covered me in a thin layer of mesh from just under my arms over the whole of my body and down both legs. There was a tripod frame with a leather collar to go around my neck. I was suspended by this with my feet just touching the floor whilst the plaster was applied. When it was dry they cut it off me and took me back to the ward.
The week after I went into theatre for my operation, the surgeon removed a piece of bone from my shin and used it to fuse my spine. I remember my mother crying when she saw the scar on my leg which was about 12 inches long but has now faded over time.
I was in a plaster cast on my body and down my leg when I woke up in Bolton Royal Infirmary, then transferred again to Marple. Whilst I was there, Wilfred Pickles (an old English actor and radio presenter) and his wife Mabel came to visit and brought with them two dolls about 3 feet tall that would walk with you if you held their hand.
In the fine weather the staff would wheel our beds out onto the veranda, sometimes having to dash us all back in if it started to rain.
Parents could only visit at weekends and came by coach, so it was all day having to come from Bolton to Cheshire.
I am now into my 80s and need a scooter outdoors and a walker in the house. I have two sons, so I have been very lucky really. Two years ago, my husband and I went to Hawaii to celebrate our Diamond wedding, and received a card from the King, which was very nice.