- Sore throat
- Fever
- Tiredness
- Nausea
- Headache
- Stomach pain
These symptoms typically last 2 to 5 days, then go away on their own.
However, some people may develop more serious symptoms. These include:
- Meningitis (infection of the covering of the spinal cord and/or brain)occurs in about 1–5 out of 100 people with poliovirus infection, depending on virus type
- Paralysis (can’t move parts of the body) or weakness in the arms, legs, or both occurs in about 1 out of 200 people to 1 in 2000 people, depending on virus type
How is polio spread?
Polio enters the body through the mouth and is highly contagious.
It spreads through:
- Contact with the feces (poop) of an infected person
- Droplets from a sneeze or cough of an infected person (less common)
You can get infected with poliovirus if:
- You have picked up minute pieces of feces on your hands, and you touch your mouth.
- You put in your mouth objects like toys that are contaminated with feces.
Other things to note about the virus:
- An infected person can spread the virus to others immediately before and up to 2 weeks after symptoms appear.
- The virus can live in an infected person’s intestines for many weeks. It can contaminate food and water in unsanitary conditions.
- People who don’t have symptoms can still pass the virus to others and make them sick.
Preventing the spread
The polio vaccine is seen as one of the greatest public health victories of all time. Before the vaccine became widely available in 1955, more than 35,000 people were paralyzed by polio each year and kids were at the highest risk.
“Polio was eradicated, but we do still get a series of shots as babies that are required to go to school,” Newman explains.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children get four doses of the polio vaccine — at 2 months, 4 months, 6 through 18 months, and at ages 4 through 6 years.
Kids younger than 3 are at the highest risk for serious infection with polio. “Check your kids’ vaccine status, and if they are due [for] another dose, now is the time to get it,” she adds.
The message is clear, says Dr. Bernard Camins, medical director of infection prevention for the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.
Those who are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated should get immunized against polio right away.
“The best thing to do is to vaccinate as many people as possible, even if polio is only circulating at low levels in the community,” Camins adds. “If you were born before 1980, you are likely fully vaccinated as we were so strict back then and there was no objection to vaccinations.”
The new order is not a reason to vaccinate your kids early: It’s just a reminder to stay on top of their vaccine schedule. “If you missed some shots due to COVID-19, then make sure to catch up,” Camins says.
“I don’t think polio will be the next pandemic, as so many people have immunity,” he adds. “We will continue to see the disease smoldering and potentially a few more people will become paralyzed, but it won’t spread like COVID-19.”
Learn more about polio at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.