Polio and Post-Polio Syndrome

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Prevention and Risk Factors

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues

See, Play and Learn

• Images

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus. The virus lives in an infected person's throat and intestines. It is most often spread by contact with the stool of an infected person. You can also get it from droplets if an infected person sneezes or coughs. It can contaminate food and water if people do not wash their hands.

Most people have no symptoms. If you have symptoms, they may include fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, flu-like symptoms, stiff neck and back, and pain in the limbs. A few people will become paralyzed. There is no treatment to reverse the paralysis of polio.

Some people who've had polio develop post-polio syndrome (PPS) years later. Symptoms include tiredness, new muscle weakness, and muscle and joint pain. There is no way to prevent or cure PPS.

The polio vaccine has wiped out polio in the United States and most other countries.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Start Here

• Polio (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Polio Vaccination (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Post-Polio Syndrome (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary
• Post-Polio Syndrome (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Polio and Prevention (World Health Organization)
• Polio Vaccine (American Academy of Family Physicians)
• Polio Vaccine: What You Need to Know (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF Also in Spanish

Living With

• Poliomyelitis (World Health Organization) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Travelers' Health: Poliomyelitis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Images

• Polio Pictures (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Poliomyelitis (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Postpoliomyelitis Syndrome (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Poliovirus Surveillance.
• Article: Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication - Pakistan, January 2019-September 2020.
• Article: New polio vaccine could boost faltering eradication drive.
• Polio and Post-Polio Syndrome -- see more articles
• Postpolio Syndrome -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Also in Spanish
• Post-Polio Directory: Post-Polio Clinics, Health Professionals, Support Groups (Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network)
• World Health Organization

Children

• Polio (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Polio and the Vaccine (Shot) to Prevent It (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Polio: Information for Parents (American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF
• Poliomyelitis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish