Poliomyelitis — New Problems with an Old Disease

Although the late sequelae of poliomyelitis were described over 100 years ago, credit for the recognition and definition of the post-polio syndrome must properly go to the many patients whose persistence eventually convinced their doctors that they were indeed experiencing new difficulties. It is estimated that there are 250,000 to 300,000 survivors of the most recent major epidemic of poliomyelitis, in the 1950s, and that most, if not all, are at risk for the post-polio syndrome.Typically, the post-polio syndrome becomes symptomatic 25 to 35 years after the original attack of poliomyelitis. After a variable degree of neuromuscular recovery from . . .