About Polio

Polio is highly infectious, yet up to 90% of those infected experience no or mild symptoms. In others, initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. These symptoms usually last for 2–10 days and most recovery is complete in almost all cases. However, in other cases the virus causes paralysis, usually of the legs, which is most often permanent. Paralysis can occur as rapidly as within a few hours of infection. Of those paralysed, 5-10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilised. That is why you will see old photos of children, and adults, in iron lungs, a machine like a coffin that helps you breathe.

As a result of vaccination, polio is eradicated from Nigeria, however it is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where efforts to End Polio Now continue, thanks to the World Health Organisation, Rotary International and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Only recently (August 2020) it was announced that Africa is polio free. Post Polio Syndrome (PPS) / Late Effects of Polio When they hear about Polio Survivors in Nigeria, many people say ‘I thought polio was gone‘. Although polio is eradicated from Nigeria and much of the world, in fact as many as Million polio survivors are living in Nigeria with disabilities from this disease. Their condition is known as Post Polio Syndrome (PPS), or, Late Effects of Polio. Post Polio Syndrome (PPS) is a neurological condition resulting in new symptoms in people who had polio years earlier, but whose condition has been stable for at least 15 years. PPS can occur from 20 to 40 years after the initial illness, bringing new muscle weakness as the main symptom. Late Effects of Polio are where someone doesn’t develop Post Polio Syndrome and experience new weakness, but they may have other issues as a result of walking a specific way, wear and tear on joints or over-compensation.