Polio

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Polio is the shortened name of poliomyelitis, the crippling disease caused by the poliovirus. One in 200 cases results in paralysis, which leads to the limbs of the victim becoming limp and disfigured. The paralysis is almost always irreversible. Historically, polio has been the world's greatest cause of disability.

Polio can strike at any age but currently affects mainly children under five years of age in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It is passed through person-to-person contact and is most prevalent in overcrowded conditions where standards of hygiene are poor. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs.

Because there is no cure, the best protection against polio is prevention. For as little as 40p worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.

In the parts of India where polio is still endemic, mass immunisation campaigns are being held 8 times a year to break the chain of infection.

We have not had polio in Great Britain and Ireland for a long time now, yet many people aged 60 and over will remember fears about the use of swimming pools or swimming in the sea during hot summers and have vivid memories of victims in iron lungs.

Polio knows no borders and carriers frequently move from one country to another. The virus can therefore reappear in previously polio free countries. In 2007 there were cases of polio in nine African countries although polio is only endemic in one of them.

If polio isn't eradicated, the world will continue to live under the threat of the disease. More than 10 million children could be paralysed in the next 40 years if the world fails to capitalise on its US$4 billion global investment in eradication.

Polio is only an air flight away from Great Britain and Ireland.