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
Verno
On leave from the Navy aged 22, Verno fell ill. He was diagnosed with polio. Initially paralysed from the waist down, recovery was going to be difficult. But thanks to a physiotherapist and months of painful exercises, he regained most of his function and was able to continue his naval career.
In the first week of April 1955, aged 22, I served as a Naval Officer, crewing a newly built Minesweeper from its construction yard on the Clyde to a naval base in Hythe, Southampton, passing through Loch Ness and the North Sea.
We reached Southampton on April 4, just in time for Easter Leave. I wasn’t feeling well—thought I had flu—but nothing was going to stop me from going home, so I set off for Gloucestershire. After realising I was too ill to continue, I turned back and asked my father to collect me the following day, which he kindly did.
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That night, I collapsed at home with a high fever, and I don’t remember much of the following days. When I regained consciousness, I was in Ham Green Isolation Hospital in Bristol, with a splitting headache. A doctor in Bristol Royal Infirmary A&E suspected meningitis or polio and had me transferred to Ham Green, where a spinal fluid test confirmed it was polio.
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I was immobilised in bed, surrounded by sandbags and forbidden to move until my fever subsided about five days later. Moving any limb during this time could have worsened the effects of polio. Although I had no pain except for a sore back, I realised I was paralysed from the waist down, except for my left foot. I also had partial paralysis above the waist, affecting my right shoulder and 40% of my lung capacity.
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The doctors asked about my movements and actions on my return to Hythe, and I explained that I had carried a heavy suitcase for 400 yards before attempting to drive home. They concluded that this was likely the cause of the paralysis in my legs and shoulder.
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It was ironic that I contracted polio just before Dr. Jonas Salk’s vaccine was introduced, which would eventually reduce polio to insignificant levels in the Western world.
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As soon as the fever had gone, my physiotherapist, Ann arrived. She was about my age and had just returned from her honeymoon. Ann explained that recovery would be a long, difficult process, but since I was 22—at the peak of my physical powers—I had the best chance of regaining function. She told me that after nine months, whatever hadn’t recovered would never come back. Her aim was to keep me out of a wheelchair, a bold mission statement at the time!
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Ann was incredibly dedicated. She pushed me through painful exercises, emphasising that many children with polio remained paralysed because they lacked the strength to do the necessary work. She didn’t just help me recover but inspired me to save my career. Her philosophy, “Never complain. Get on with life. Accept your limitations.” has been my guiding principle ever since. She and her husband became lifelong friends.
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My recovery was faster than expected. Within weeks, I regained my lung capacity, and with Ann’s help, I could start walking again. Ann then marched me across the cricket pitch to the gym block holding on to my waistband and made me crawl up the grand marble staircase to the top floor gym.
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The gym was equipped with sandbags and springs to help patients rebuild their strength, and every day was a small step forward. I worked on lifting weights, standing on one foot, and gradually gaining strength. However my weakened right foot resulted in my heel being anchored to the ground for life, meaning I had to learn to walk again and cannot run.
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Despite these limitations, I found other ways to stay active. Golf and sailing became my main sports. After four months I was transferred to the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar at Gosport, where I spent more time in the gym, improving my strength.
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On becoming, by time, the oldest inhabitant of the Officers Surgical Ward I became entitled to a daily tot of whisky in addition to my bottle of beer!
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In September, I was given a Light Duty appointment to HMS St. Vincent at Gosport, a Seaman Boys training school. I worked for St Vincent in the morning and exercised at Haslar in the afternoon. I needed a car to get to the gym. I went to Gosport police before my annual licence renewal. To my surprise, the police didn’t require me to take a disabled driving test—only a letter from my doctor confirming I could drive. However, I could not drive some manual gear box cars due to left leg weakness, but the Hillman I bought was fine. I stopped driving in 2009.
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I was granted a second Light Duty extension in December, but Haslar’s Admiral Commandant interviewed me before granting a final, exceptional third period of Light Duty. After nearly 13 months of rehabilitation, I was declared fit for full duty and joined my new warship, Destroyer D68, HMS Barrosa on 29 May 1956, one week before my potential Invaliding date.
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I served the Navy for a further 27 years Ashore and Afloat, at Home and Abroad, including Command at sea and Family-accompanied postings in Australia and Europe, before retiring in September 1982. I then took on a second career in HM Coastguard finally retiring on 5 April 1995, 40 years to the day that I was felled by polio.
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I married in 1961, not knowing if I could sire children. My wife and I have three children and now head a very close-knit and supportive four generational, extended family.
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Although my physical limitations remained, I was able to live without restrictions. In late 2009, through the British Polio Fellowship charity I was referred to the Lane Fox Unit at Guy’s and St. Thomas's Hospital, London to mitigate my increasing instability. There, the rehabilitation consultant fitted me with a Swedish carbon-fibre leg brace that significantly improved my stability and prevented toe-droop. After Covid, the Lane Fox Unit delegated all brace and knee straps maintenance to the NHS Nuffield Orthopaedic & Orthotics Centre in Oxford, who have been extremely helpful.
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At 92, I still face some of the challenges of polio as my legs have weakened further. I am now completely incapable of independent living. My wife is my carer, and my guarantee of continuing to live in my own home. We moved from Somerset to Oxfordshire in 2017 to be near our son and adapted our new house for disabled living by installing a wet room, stairlift and grab rails. I gave up swimming on leaving Somerset, but still aim to walk up to a mile a day on the flat for exercise, albeit always guided because of my extremely poor eyesight, and always with two sticks.
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I have been fortunate not to suffer from arthritis or joint damage like many other polio survivors, though I do need regular osteopathy. I aim to stay on my feet as long as possible in order to continue to enjoy a fulfilling life.
Verno from Oxfordshire
Image: HMS BAROSSA passing the RY BRITANNIA during the Queen’s Home Fleet Review off Invergordon 29 May 1957