Immune System & Disease

Name: ANGIE VILLEDA GUADRON Date: 04/24/17

You can choose any one of the four pathogen categories. You will choose a specific disease
that is associated with your pathogen category. Find three sources to research your disease
and write a summary about the symptoms, invasion method, infection/spread, outcome, and
possible cure/prevention methods.

What is the pathogen category and associated disease you have chosen to
research and why?

I chose to do the categories of Viruses and the disease associated with this category
is POLIO, I chose that because this is one of the common diseases and I think is
important to get informed.

Cited Sources, Data & Findings:

(Author, Title of Article, Website for each)

1. https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/history-polio-poliomyelitis

Polio: caused by the poliovirus, also called Poliomyelitis

Spread by contact with different people

Types of polio: abortive polio, non-paralytic polio, and paralytic
polio.
Poliovirus enters the body through the mouth, multiplying
2. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/polio-
along the way to the digestive tract, where it further multiplies.
and-post-polio-syndrome

Most cases there is no symptoms present.

Symptoms vary from mild, flu-like symptoms to paralysis and
possibly death.
Mild-cases symptoms: fever, tiredness and weakness (malaise),
headache, nausea and vomiting and muscle stiffness.
If the virus spreads to the nervous system, major illness can occur.

3. http://polioeradication.org/polio-today/polio-prevention/

Treatment/ prevention:

There is no cure for polio

Antibiotics
Heat and physical therapy
Best way to prevent polio is through immunization.
Answer to Original Question:

- Include data/findings from all sources

- Complete sentences, paragraph format

Polio is one of the common diseases caused by viruses. Polio also called
poliomyelitis is a high infectious disease caused by the poliovirus, it invades the
nervous system and cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours. Polio can
strike at any age but it is most common in children under five years old. The virus
is spread through contact with food, water or hands that are contaminated
with the feces or throat secretions of an infected person. When a child is
infected with wild poliovirus, the virus enters the body through the mouth and
multiplies in the intestine. It is then when it can spread to the community through
feces and most common in situations of poor hygiene and sanitation. Most people
infected with the poliovirus have no signs of illness and are never aware they
have been infected. In about 95% of all polio cases, the person has no
symptoms at all. These are known as asymptomatic cases. In others, initial
symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain
in the limbs. The rest of polio cases can be divided into three types: abortive
polio, which has mild symptoms such as fatigue, fever, etc.; non-paralytic
polio, which includes neurological problems; and paralytic polio, which is
basically the loss of physical reflexes and movement. In one to two per cent of
cases, polio affects the nerves, resulting in paralysis of the arms, legs or the
diaphragm, which controls breathing. Between two and five percent of people who
develop paralytic polio will die. Half of those who survive will have permanent
paralysis. Even though Polio does not have a cure, there exist vaccines and other
things to treat this disease. Certain drugs and therapies can offer supportive care
for patients to counter some of the effects of muscle involvement. Patients who
progress to paralysis of muscles involved in breathing receive artificial breathing
support, which may be discontinued if the patient regains use of the affected
muscles. Immunization is the best protection against polio and is recommended for
all ages. The polio vaccine is combined with vaccines for other infectious diseases
when given to children at two, four and six months and at four years of age. Adults
should have had at least three doses of polio vaccine in the past. There is also other
ways to treat the disease for example the use of antibiotics, pain medicine,
physiotherapy, and nutrition diets.