There is no characteristic symptom or sign to be found in all cases. This makes the diagnosis difficult. Quite frequently, the patient cannot bend his head forward as far as usual. A doctor should always be called if anyone in the family has a fever associated with a bad headache, or with pain in the muscles in either the arms or legs or in the neck and back. Even minor upsets in children should be looked upon with suspicion. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, a slight cold coupled with pain in the joints, are also possible danger signs. A child catching polio may become drowsy or restless, feverish and irritable. He may complain about and resist being moved. These symptoms are particularly important during the summer and early fall months because this is the period during which most outbreaks of polio occur.
What is the TREATMENT?
If, during the course of an epidemic, any suspicious illness should develop in a member of your family, prompt medical attention and observation are important. If any sign or symptom of polio is present, the affected person should be hospitalized immediately. Hospitals have many special forms of equipment which are necessary in treatment. Trained nursing care is essential. Should paralysis appear, special measures are necessary to prevent or lessen deformity and to begin the rebuilding of the affected parts of the body. No clearly reliable specific drug is available as yet which will cure polio, but gamma globulin appears to give some degree of protection for several weeks against the paralysis stage of the disease. There are now strong hopes that a vaccine is now available that will give immunity against polio for a whole season.
At the present time treatment of the disease takes many forms. While a patient is recovering from a polio attack, a full nourishing diet, application of various forms of heat and massage, special baths and exercises, are the measures which are most helpful in restoring usefulness to affected arms or legs. Specially built shoes or braces are required in only a few cases, and surgical operations have been devised to return motion and function to the arms or legs of some patients.
Treatment must be continued over long periods of time in some cases, but the results are often very rewarding. The expense of such long treatment is great. Fortunately, an awakened public, through its contributions to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and other Agencies, has helped thousands to bear this expense. Support of these organizations in their sincere and unselfish aims is a splendid public service in the battle against polio.
How to GUARD against this DISEASE....
Although there is no known means of vaccination or inoculation against polio, many things can be done to lessen the possibility of getting the disease.
First of all, if an epidemic occurs, you should follow the instructions of the local public health officer. He will also decide in what cases gamma globulin is needed.
Secondly, it is wise to avoid crowded places, especially indoors where there is opportunity for close contact and possible infection.