Classification: ICD-9 045; ICD-10 A80
Syndromes and synonyms: Polioviral fever, infantile paralysis, acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), bulbar polio.
Agent: Poliovirus, an RNA enterovirus with three types; type 1 cases are most common, followed by type 3; wild type 2 disappeared in 1999. Rare cases of all three types occur in unimmunized contacts of children vaccinated with the Sabin live attenuated vaccine.
Reservoir: Humans, generally children with inapparent infections.
Transmission: Oro-fecal. 100% of susceptible contacts become infected. Virus appears in the throat < 36 hours after infection, for a week, and in the feces after 72 hours for 3–6 weeks. Transmission through contaminated water and food has been reported rarely.
Incubation period: 3–35 days; 6–20 for paralytic cases.
Clinical findings