Have you ever heard of polio? Well, if you haven't you may have heard of polio. Polio was one of the most feared diseases at the beginning of the 20th century. This disease was known to paralyze hundreds of thousands of children every year. The polio epidemic was a terrible fear for all parents in 1916. However, you may wonder why polio is so deadly? Well, let's talk about the two different types of polio first. There are two types of non-paralytic polio and paralytic polio. Nonparalytic polio is a form of polio that does not lead to paralysis in patients. This type of polio can have many symptoms. These symptoms are also very common in other viral diseases. Some common symptoms are fever, sore throat, headache, vomiting, fatigue, back pain or stiffness, neck pain or stiffness, pain or stiffness in the arms or legs, and muscle weakness or tenderness. However, the most severe type of polio is known as paralytic polio. This is why polio was so feared because it was so deadly and was the most severe form of the disease. However, the signs and symptoms of paralytic polio include symptoms such as fever and headache, loss of reflexes, severe muscle pain or weakness, loose and limp limbs, and even flaccid paralysis. Many of these patients also had a great loss of muscle tone. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Now, this brings us to the next point: What does polio do to the body? Well, polio causes damage to the motor neurons in the spinal cord. It is characterized by flaccid and asymmetric paralysis of the muscles, especially of the lower limbs. Bulbar or paralytic polio involves damage to neurons in a reticular or quadrate formation. This can cause significant harm to the body because it can damage the nuclei of the cranial nerves in the brainstem. Unfortunately, this disease not only affected paralysis of the limbs. The polio virus is also known to reduce patients' breathing capacity. Polio can also affect swallowing and the ability to speak depending on the severity of the disease. Poliovirus can be transmitted in many ways. However, the most common is through direct contact with people infected with the virus. This is very similar to what we are experiencing with covid 19. Large gatherings of people close or close together make it easy for diseases like this to spread quickly from person to person. Although polio is mostly spread from person to person, it can also spread in other ways. Polioviruses can also be transmitted through contaminated food and water. Some people who carry the poliovirus can spread the virus for weeks even through feces. However, people who have this deadly virus and have no symptoms can spread it to others just as easily. Overall, the polio epidemic had a great impact on the world. In fact, the mortality rate for paralytic polio ranges from 5 to 15%. During the polio epidemic, an average of 16,316 cases of paralytic polio and 1,879 deaths due to polio were reported each year (Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999 Impact of Vaccines Universally Recommendation for Children -- the United States, 1990-1998 The polio virus mainly affects children aged five years and younger. About one in two 100 infections cause irreversible paralysis in children suffering from polio, 5 to 10% die due to immobilization of the respiratory muscles is common. in children it isIt is also possible to get polio a second time as an adult. Children who appear to recover completely may develop post-polio syndrome. It may cause new muscle pain, weakness, or paralysis as an adult. 15 to 40 years later, post-polio syndrome is a condition that can cause polio survivors to form years after a first attack of the polio virus. In most cases, polio survivors begin to experience a slight new weakening of the muscles that were previously affected by the polio virus when they were children. In most cases, post-polio syndrome is not life-threatening. However, the symptoms can greatly affect the patient and interfere with his or her ability to function independently. These patients may experience respiratory muscle weakness, which can cause them to have problems breathing properly. This brings us to the next point. How did doctors treat polio patients? Well, patients with severe cases of polio that have affected their ability to breathe have been introduced to a machine called an iron lung. The iron lung was designed in 1928 and consisted of a large metal cylinder that encased the patient's entire body below the neck. In the iron lung, the patient's head protruded through an airtight rubber neck seal. The iron lung is a ventilation system. There are two types of ventilation systems, there are positive fans which are the fans we know best today. Positive pressure ventilators are usually connected to the patient's endotracheal tube, trake tube, or face with a face mask. However, the iron lung uses negative pressure to give its patients breathing and works very differently than the regular positive pressure ventilator. The use of negative pressure ventilators peaked in the 1950s due to the polio epidemic. Negative pressure ventilators work on the principle of increasing lung volumes by intermittently applying negative pressure to the entire body. These negative pressure devices transmit negative pressure through the chest wall into the pleural spaces and alveoli (sacs in the lungs) to help the patient breathe. These devices allowed exhalation to be passive and to depend simply on the elastic recoil of the lungs and chest wall. These machines were not very portable and were also difficult to provide routine care to patients. Although the iron lung is primarily known for treating polio, another machine was also used that was simpler and less expensive than reservoir devices such as the iron lung. . This machine was called a chest respirator and became the ventilator predominantly used to treat paralyzed polio patients. The chest respirator used the same negative pressure concept as the iron lung – it was just much smaller and the patient's entire body did not need to be in the device. In this device, only the patient's chest had to be covered with the machine leaving the head, neck, arms and legs free. this machine was much more comfortable for patients and well tolerated than the iron lung. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In the 1950s, the polio vaccine was developed. The polio vaccine has saved millions of people around the world. This vaccine was created by a man named Dr. Jonas Salk and was first used in the United States in 1955.