Explanatory Essay

Sarah Spaulding

Comp. 101 secs. 16

Poliomyelitis

The first case of the virus poliomyelitis (Polio) was first found in 1894. Polio is a virus that affected young children until about 1960 (Serfling 453). My grandfather is a victim of polio. He caught a virus at a young age and was diagnosed with polio at seven years old. He was then in and out of the hospital for about three years. He has no muscle in his left leg and he walks with a limp. Even though he has always had a limp he never let that keep him from being like the other kids. He was able to keep up and run around with all the kids his age. Even today at eighty four years old he is able to walk on his own with the use of a cane. My grandfather is very lucky he is able to walk and does not have a severe case of polio.

Polio is an infectious viral disease that affects the nervous system and can cause paralysis. It enters the body through the mouth from hands that have been in contact with someone who has the virus. A person can get polio from lacking sanitation. (Parmet 1780). The virus really started to grow in the twentieth century (Cliff 269). The effects of the virus can be very mild or extreme and cause paralysis and death. It is mostly found in infants and children, but it is very rare for children to be diagnosed with polio today because there are vaccinations which prevent them from getting it (Parmet 780).

Before a person is diagnosed with polio they have to first catch poliovirus. There are two ways the virus can be transmitted. One way is from fecal contamination and the other is from person-to-person. It is more common for someone to catch the virus from fecal contamination because places weren’t as sterile and sanitized as they are today. Utensils, fingers, and food could get contaminated with feces and that could give someone the virus (Cliff 271).

Once the virus enters the body it starts out in your throat and then enters the intestines. Once it is in the intestines it starts...