Polio Epidemic

Polio

There are many diseases in the world today. One of the most dangerous diseases in the 20th century was known as Polio. Polio was the most notorious disease of the 20th century before aids struck the United States. There have been many cases through out the World today but the first case of Polio in the United States that was recorded was in 1894.

Do you know what Polio is? Well if you don’t it is more known as a terrifying disease that struck the epidemic proportions from the late 1800- mid 1900 ( Peters). This is a virus that left thousands or more with atrophied limbs this disease created a lifelong disability. ‘This disease is a waterborne disease people mainly get Polio when they drink contaminated water or they don’t even have to drink the water they could even swim in the water that is contaminated.” That is not the only way that you can catch the disease another way that you can catch the disease is by if you eat food that been touched by an infected person or even by contaminated water (Peters). This disease attacks the nerve cells that are in your brain and your spinal cord. Those two nerve cells are the ones who control all your body muscles. For example in some cases polio affect you’re breathing muscles that allow you to breathe properly. Then you are not allowed to breathe properly so they have to lay in a machine that helps them breathe properly and that is known as a iron lung. Some people have to lay in the iron lungs for the rest of their life but in other cases they get to breathing better and get to start back on breathing on their own.

For everyone the cases range in different illness to partial or complete paralysis Silverstein). Some of the symptoms for phase 1 of polio are mild fever, headache, sore throat, vomiting, and malaise. With this phase of polio you recover with in 24-72 hours.

The notorious disease mainly affects young children but in some cases though is affects adults. For example Franklin Delano Roosevelt had the...