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.

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:

persistent fatigue (extreme tiredness)
muscle weakness
shrinking muscles
muscle and joint pain
sleep apnoea

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.

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.

WHO'S AFFECTED

Post Polio Syndrome only affects people who've had polio. It usually develops 15 to 40 years after the infection.

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.

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.

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

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The British Polio Fellowship
- Aug 10, 2020
- 2 min read

COVID-19 Is the big story but Polio is not forgotten

Updated: Aug 11, 2020

On Thursday 4 June, under the stewardship of British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson MP, the third global summit of The Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) took place from London on a virtual basis. The Alliance, now in its 20th year, held this pledging conference with the aim of raising US$7.4 billion US dollars and although Covid-19 was on everyone’s minds, Polio was mentioned way over 30 times by the representatives of participating countries. World leaders from Angela Merkel to President Macron used Polio as an example to demonstrate how vaccines had nearly eradicated disease. It was also an eye opener to see how many Prime Ministers, leading health Ministers and decision-makers were female – equality in action.

Some statistics quoted were mind boggling – 18.5 million children missing out on their usual vaccines due to the disruption of the Corona virus. Over the last few years, 760 million children have been vaccinated against disease saving up to eight million lives. However, in the immediate past, 10 million children have died before their first birthday due to the lack of a proper vaccine programme. During the next five years of GAVI’s programme, it aims to facilitate the vaccination of 300 million children against Polio, measles and malaria.

The broadcast (mainly in English) was fascinating and was summed up with the words ‘vaccination means freedom from fear – that is our universal right”. We can be proud that Great Britain was the largest single donor to GAVI’s appeal. My regret is that there was not a Polio vaccine at the time in our country when so many died, and so many of us suffered then and are still suffering now.

David Mitchell

National Chairman

PS:

Although Boris Johnson was ‘the leader of the band’ the real star was Colin Powell’s friend, Bill Gates, who rounded off the proceedings. Mr Gates was one of the founders of GAVI and pledged a further US$1 million towards Covid-19 vaccine development. We owe so much to the Gates Foundation for its Polio work. The conference raised a staggering US$8.8 million to save lives around the world.

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