Poliomyelitis - what is it and how is it transmitted? Prevention of disease

Lately there has been a lot of talk about poliomyelitis, especially after the outbreak of an acute infectious disease was registered in one of the regions of Ukraine. The disease is really terrible. High mortality and a huge percentage of disability is caused by poliomyelitis. What is it and how is the disease transmitted, let's try to figure it out together now.

Nature of the virus

Poliomyelitis also has another name - children's dorsal paralysis. At risk are children aged from six months to 6 years. After the poliovirus got into the body of the child, poliomyelitis develops. How is this terrible disease transmitted? The simplest and most common way - airborne droplets. It is safely carried various insects, in addition, it gets to a person through unwashed food or dirty hands.

Poliovirus is very tenacious: in the external environment it is able to stay for about six months, without fear of frost and sun. The source of infection is a person, especially if he has found the erased and mild forms of the disease. From it to the external environment, the pathogens fall along with feces and nasal mucus. The most infectious patient becomes three days before the fever and within a week after its appearance. Outbreaks of the virus are usually observed in the summer and autumn, a particularly dangerous period - from August to October.

How does the pathogen work?

Infection enters the body through the oral cavity. It settles in the intestine, where it successfully thrives and multiplies. The virus affects the motor nerve cells, as well as the gray membrane of the spinal cord. As a result, whole muscle groups atrophy. Nerve cells die, and the sick child becomes a serious disability.

We have already figured out how poliomyelitis is transmitted. Symptoms of the disease appear in a person after he inhaled the pathogen or picked it up from the environment with the help of hands. At first, it seems that the usual acute respiratory infection develops: the patient has a runny nose, cough, fever, and in some cases, diarrhea. Parents mistakenly do not go to the doctor, because after a few days all the symptoms disappear, and the baby looks healthy. And after two days he wakes up and can not stand on legs - the child develops flaccid paralysis of the lower extremities. Very young children can paralyze the respiratory tract: they feel asphyxiated and can die from cardiac arrest.

Signs of poliomyelitis

Doctors have been studying poliomyelitis for many decades: what is it and how is the virus transmitted. And they found that the symptoms in the disease can vary in different people. Usually signs of a respiratory infection are observed at all. Simultaneously, they can be associated with severe pain in the throat, as with angina, or a migraine, similar to the one that accompanies the flu. Dyspeptic disorders are also possible: severe diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

Sluggish leg paralysis develops over a period of five days. Some children, he strikes with lightning - a few hours. These children have significantly reduced muscle tone, tendon reflexes are observed. The musculature atrophies very quickly: the child can not walk, becoming an invalid. Death ends when the virus affects the medulla oblongata, in which the heart and respiratory control centers are located. The incubation period lasts seven days to two weeks. Poliomyelitis is of several varieties: spinal, encephalitic, bulbar, pontine, mixed, and also with absence of paralysis - visceral, meningitis and asymptomatic.

The main stages

Is poliomyelitis transmitted by airborne droplets? Certainly. At the same time during the initial stage of the disease a person, in addition to all the above symptoms of a cold, feels sluggish and tired. He complains of insomnia, cramps, uncontrolled twitching of muscles, pain in the spine, legs and arms. If vaccination has been carried out, the disease will not go to the next stage, which is already called paralytic. She is very deceptive. The kid, it would seem, is recovering. His temperature drops, activity increases. But a few days later there is paralysis. Usually, it affects the legs, but also the muscles of the neck, trunk, abdomen and deltas, and also the larynx, nasopharynx, tongue and face. Two weeks later, a dangerous third stage sets in, asymmetrical dislocations, atrophy.

The recovery period takes six months. A person gets a little better, but he continues to have limited movement, lack of mobility in the joints, and a decrease in muscle volume. Then the residual phenomena begin to appear - this is a period of persistent flaccid paralysis, contractures, deformation of the spine and shortening of the limbs.

Diagnostics

Polio is contagious and how this infection is transmitted, both adults and children should know. To this end, it is necessary to develop public education programs in schools. In special lessons children will be able to learn everything about the nature of the infection and its most common symptoms, in order to detect the danger and act in time. By the way, having suspected presence of the pathogen in the body, you should immediately contact the hospital for qualified help. To confirm the diagnosis, physicians will perform a lumbar puncture - a puncture in the lumbar region in order to study the fluid in the spinal cord.

The patient will take tests and send them to a laboratory where they will make virological and serological diagnostics. Paired blood sera will be analyzed in detail: they are usually done at intervals of three weeks. In addition, poliomyelitis is diagnosed using a so-called color test: a cell culture infected with a virus will change its shade under the influence of a special indicator. The result will be known in two days.

Treatment

Remember that effective therapy does not exist. In fact, polio is not treated. What is the first disease transmitted? As already mentioned, this is an air-drip way. And the patient is often considered a particular time infectious. To protect others from the source of the virus, a person is urgently hospitalized in an infectious hospital - in a special isolated box. Here he will stay for about 40 days, during which he will receive symptomatic therapy aimed at weakening the main signs of the disease and strengthening immunity.

The patient will receive amino acids, vitamins and gamma globulin - a protein present in the blood plasma. If the respiratory system is affected, the child is connected to the apparatus on which artificial ventilation of the lungs is carried out . Bed rest is mandatory for at least three weeks. Special care is required for the affected limbs and spine. The patient lies on a firm mattress in a certain position: legs are laid with a roller in a slightly bent position, the feet - at a right angle to the shin. In this case, the hands are withdrawn to the sides and at an angle of 90º bend at the elbow joints.

Recovery period

After passing the course of treatment in the clinic, the child's parents should talk in detail with the attending physician. The conversation will concern not only the main issues that poliomyelitis posed to them - what it is and how the disease is transmitted - but also the important moment, like rehabilitation. Most likely, during the recovery period, the physician will recommend electrostimulation, paraffin baths, water treatments and therapeutic massage. The patient should be sent to a sanatorium, where he will go through healing with healing mud and sulfur baths.

The child should be written down for classes to the orthopedist, which will help to correct deformities of the limbs and developed contractures. To normalize the neuromuscular conduction, prescribe such drugs as "Prozerin" or "Neuromidine." Effective and therapeutic exercise: it not only improves the motor functions, but also has a restorative effect. The complex of exercises is introduced into the therapeutic complex only after passing the acute period of the disease.

Prevention of infection

The claim that poliomyelitis is inherited is erroneous. It can be picked up solely by a contact method: infectious secretions of the upper respiratory tract and feces are considered. In addition, pathogens get into the human body through infected food and water, unwashed hands, dirty toys. They are also suffering from flies.

In order not to become another victim of poliomyelitis, a person should know how to prevent possible infection. First, you need to comply with food hygiene. Before eating, all fruits and vegetables should be washed, you can drink only distilled water or boiled water. Secondly, personal hygiene is important: hand washing, regular washing of clothes, change of bed linen. Thirdly, it is necessary to maintain cleanliness in the house. It is about airing the room and frequent wet cleaning. As for the actions on the part of doctors, they are obliged to conduct disinfection in the hearth of the disease and necessarily isolate sick people and those who contacted them.

Other preventive measures

The question of whether poliomyelitis is transmitted should no longer occur. He not only actively "travels" from one person to another, but also feels great, staying in the external environment. Prevention of infection - vaccination. Vaccination is done to babies at the age of 4, 5 and 6 months. Revaccination is usually carried out in a year and a half, and also when the child is 3, 6 and 14 years old. Small patients are given drops: they are injected into the mouth on the lymphoid tissue. This is the so-called vaccination of a weakened vaccine.
Among school children, intramuscular injections are popularized. They are based on a vaccine containing killed polioviruses. Introduced subcutaneously: small children - in the area of scapula, scary - in the shoulder. The baby who received the shot carries the so-called vaccinated poliomyelitis. It is absolutely safe for the body. In addition, on its basis immunity is formed: the body begins to produce the necessary antibodies to a dangerous and incurable virus.

Interesting facts about vaccination

There are many nuances concerning this topic. For example, parents are often interested in the question: is poliomyelitis transmitted after vaccination or not? According to doctors, the virus that got into the body of an ordinary vaccinated child is not dangerous for him. But he, trying to "break through" through a protective background, begins to change. Once in several vaccinated organisms, it finally mutates and only then it can threaten a person. It is interesting, but grafted children still for a while seem to "radiate" poliomyelitis. However, it is impossible to get infected from them to a healthy baby. However, if a patient with HIV is present next to the vaccinated carapace, then it must be immediately isolated.

Children who get poliomyelitis can not be vaccinated. Vaccinations are also contraindicated for people with HIV, those who take medications for a long time or who are allergic to medicines. The vaccine has no side effects, doctors say. The only trouble can be a rise in temperature, but this fact should not cause concern - the body begins to produce the necessary immunity to it.

What triggers the development of the disease?

There are factors that significantly weaken the body. Accordingly, they can make a person vulnerable, "attracting" to him the ill-fated poliomyelitis. How the virus is transmitted, we already know. Now let us consider those circumstances that will become a fertile ground for the propagation of pathogens:

• Complete absence of vaccinations or incomplete vaccination.
• Close contact with a sick person.
• Injuries.
• Operative interventions.
• Strong physical activity.
• Pregnancy.
• Taking medication, especially in the form of injections.

Everyone is at risk for getting polio. In Russia, there are also increased risks of catching the virus due to migration from Tajikistan to indigenous people, who are often carriers of the virus. Now on the border, all visitors from this country are vaccinated, and also informed that it is necessary to undergo mandatory repeat vaccination. In addition, at the checkpoints, supervision over the implementation of elementary sanitary rules has been significantly strengthened.

How to protect children?

In order to protect children, it is first necessary to know how poliomyelitis is transmitted. In children, infection occurs very quickly, especially if among them is the focus of infection. Therefore, in order to prevent the spread of the disease in institutions where minors study and stay, the following activities are practiced:

1. If there is a threat of a virus outbreak, new kids are not accepted for school, sanatorium and health resorts and other health organizations.
2. Unauthorized persons are forbidden to visit any children's institutions.
3. The translation of the kids into another group or class is not allowed.
4. In the premises there is a regular wet cleaning: at least in the morning and in the evening. Also the rooms are well ventilated or ventilated.
5. Children are required to wash their hands frequently during the day, other rules of personal hygiene are observed .

In addition, the district pediatrician is obliged to inspect the babies daily. At the first sign of poliomyelitis, children are hospitalized in an infectious disease hospital.

Memo for parents

They also require competent and prompt action. First, adults must comply with the schedule of vaccination: do the vaccinations in time for the kids, comply with all the prescriptions of the doctor. Secondly, they are obliged to teach children to wash their hands with soap after going to the toilet, staying on the street, and before eating. Thirdly, parents need to tell the heirs what harm they are carrying by unwashed vegetables and fruits, water from the tap. They must constantly clean the apartment and air it.

Now you know about many interesting facts about poliomyelitis (what is it and how is it transmitted). Do not forget, too, that the subcutaneous vaccine has many advantages over the one administered through the mouth. Its advantages are as follows: it gives one hundred percent immunity, does not cause intestinal disorders and other complications. After drops the baby within two months "radiates" a virus that can create danger for not vaccinated associates or those who have weak immunity.