write an essay about POLIO
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Answer:
Explanation:
Polio was a deadly disease that struck the United States hard with various epidemic breakouts throughout the country. There are many books written about the disease and how it was controlled. Polio is a well-researched topic in today’s medical world but in this book, Heather Green Wooten, takes it one step further. She placed the focus of the book in the south, a place where the disease struck almost last yet it claimed many lives. It specifies on the state of Texas. In addition to that, she combined the disease epidemic with the social and economic development of the state in the twentieth century. The book follows a well-organized chronological order stating by the early cases of polio and its spread. Then it talks about Franklin D…show more content…
The purpose of the chapter is to provide the readers with some background information. Along with this, it also shows how panic overtook the American communities. The uncertainty of what the virus was or where it came from caused a paranoia in many cities. The initial reaction was to quarantine victims and keep them away from the general public. The spread of the epidemic from northern states to Texas is accredited, according to Wooten, by the mass immigration into Texas by residents of other states during the oil industry’s boom in Texas in the early twentieth century. This exposed many people to polio as they moved into cities and the coastal area of Texas became more and more urbanized. The high standards of American hygene made polio a death threat. The body did not have the ability of fighting a small dose of the disease as new born did when hygene in the country was not so clean. By not being exposed to the virus the body did not produce the adequate antibodies to fight it off. When it struck at a later age the body was defenseless and so the epidemic started. The result of the urbanization of Texas and the many polio outbreaks helped the area create many hospitals and lead the fight against polio. The book also highlights the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who also suffered of polio.
Answer:
Polio (or poliomyelitis) is a disease that can cause lameness among children. It can cripple a child for life. According to WHO, one out of every 200 cases, polio virus passes to the spinal cord where it can destroy the nerve cells which activate the muscles. This damage is irreversible. The nerve cells cannot be replaced, the muscles affected no longer function and the outcome is life-long paralysis. This disease mainly affects children under three but older children can catch it too. Adult cases are rare.
Main casual agent of polio is virus of three types i.e. polio virus type 1, type 2 and type 3. All the three types cause paralysis and the disease is highly communicable. Transmission is primarily person-to-person via the faecaloral-route, i.e. the polio virus multiplies in the intestine and is spread through the faces.
There is no cure to this disease. But it can be prevented and immunization is at present the most effective method of prevention of the disease. Vaccine provides effective immunity against all the three types of polio virus. This is highly safe and effective. The WHO programme on immunization and National Immunization Programme in India recommended a primary course of three doses of Oral Polio Vaccination (OPV) at one month interval commencing the first dose from the six weeks of infant’s birth; 1st dose in 6 weeks, 2nd dose in 10 weeks and 3rd dose within 14 weeks.