Polio Fears – Part 1

Another fear tactic arrives: polio.

 

On August 24, 2022, an article entitled, “New York counties gear up to fight a polio outbreak among the unvaccinated.” What did the article reveal?

 

The last time there was community transmission of polio in the U.S. was 1979. The Americas were declared polio free in 1994. Though it’s just ONE CASE of paralysis at the moment, public health officials — both locally and nationally — are taking the news very seriously… “Even a single case of paralytic polio represents a public health emergency in the United States,” the CDC declared in a recent report. (emphasis added).

 

THE REALITY OF ‘POLIO’

What are the first things that pop into your head when you hear the word POLIO?” I’ll bet that most of you thought of at least one of the following:

1. Paralysis

2. Kids with braces

3. Iron lung machines  – (which by the way, were the precursor to today’s routine ventilators)

4. The March of Dimes campaign (if you’re a bit older!)

 

The word “polio” has led to multigenerational indoctrination – a horrible fear of PARALYSIS.

 

Think about it: polio was a national crisis in the 1950s. The polio vaccines were released in 1955. Most new parents today were born between 1980 and 2000. And yet, they are filled with the same fear at the word “polio” as parents were nearly 70 years ago.

 

To this very day, people THINK polio is a synonym for paralysis.

 

What is polio?

The poliovirus is a member of the Enterovirus group of viruses. They are transient inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract.  There are three primary poliovirus strains, named P1, P2, and P3; these serotypes have been used in the vaccines. An antibody generated against one serotype does not produce significant protection against the other serotypes, hence, all three viral serotypes are included in a polio vaccine.

 

Here’s something you may not be aware of: There were at least six different manifestations of polio infections.

§   Asymptomatic

§   Abortive poliomyelitis

§   Non-paralytic poliomyelitis

§   Paralytic poliomyelitis – the least common, had three separate diagnostic subtypes:

• §   Spinal

• §   Spinobulbar

• §   Bulbar

 

We will talk about each of these forms of polio in much more detail

1.     Asymptomatic: This was the most common form of polio – approximately 70% of those who contracted a polio infection had this form of the infection, meaning, a person who was infected with the poliovirus may have had only mild gastrointestinal symptoms or no symptoms at all. The person recovered completely within 24-72 hour and developed a lifetime, natural immunity to the virus.

 

Let me say that again:

 

THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF POLIO INFECTION WAS ASYMPTOMATIC.

 

Let that sink in…

 

Several generations have carried the unrealistic fear of PERMANENT PARALYSIS by something that happens with every infection. We have spent billions and billions of dollars on polio eradication worldwide when up to 72% of people exposed to a poliovirus had NO symptoms at all…and they develop a lifetime of natural immunity to a gastrointestinal virus.

 

2.     Abortive polio: This was the second most common type of polio infection.

Approximately 24% of polio infections in children consist of a minor, nonspecific illness. Known as abortive poliomyelitis, it is characterized by low fever and a sore throat. They had complete recovery in less than a week and retained a lifetime of natural immunity.   

 

So, combined, [asymptomatic polio + abortive polio] = 94% of all polio infections were basically asymptomatic.

 

3.     Non-paralytic poliomyelitis:  This form of polio occurred in approximately 3% of those diagnosed with polio illness.

Referred to as aseptic or viral meningitis, the onset of symptoms occurred up to 14 days after recovery of minor viral illness. Patients presented with a high fever, severe headache, and stiff neck. They could experience numbness/tingling in one or more of the extremities. Occasionally, they would experience asymmetrical limb weakness. The illness generally lasted 2-10 days. But even with viral meningitis caused by the polio virus, most completely recover and had life-long immunity.

 

Again, let that sink in.

 

4.     Paralytic polio: a rare form of polio infection, this occurred in less than 1% of polio infections. The acute flaccid paralysis usually progressed over 1-2 weeks and was almost always asymmetric (one leg or one arm, not both and not bilateral).

 

Three different types of possible paralysis. These percentages were based on data accumulated over 10 years, between 1969-79

 

•       79% – Spinal (most common)

•       19% – Spinobulbar

•         2% – Bulbar

 

Spinal polio – the most common form of paralytic polio, involved the spinal cord and manifested as paralysis of a limb.

Bulbar polio – involved the brainstem and breathing centers. The incidence rate was approximately 2% of all polio infections.

Spinobulbar polio – with an incidence rate of 19% – involved both paralysis of a limb and the breathing centers.

 

Of the reported cases of limb paralysis, more than 50% had COMPLETE RECOVERY.

 

Of the other 50%? Most continued to improve over two years. And yes, some had permanent, residual loss of limb function. But how many people did permanent paralysis really affect? VERY few. And yet, we have 70 years of ‘terror’ about polio.

 

So, let’s do a little math:

 

The combined incidence of spinobulbar polio and bulbar polio was 21% of the 1% of all types of paralytic polio cases.

 

That means 0.0021% of all cases of polio had an infection serious enough that could have resulted in being placed on an iron lung machine, could have resulted in permanent paralysis, or the person could have died.

 

Remember this – and write this down:

 

polio is not a synonym for paralysis.

 

When friends and family start spouting off mainstream propaganda about the “horrors of polio,” you’ll now be able to say, “Did you know that the most common form of polio infection presented as a completely ASYMPTOMATIC gastrointestinal bug – and that was how polio presented more than  90% of the time?”

 

And you’ll be able to fire back, “Did you know that the form of polio – the type that caused paralysis – was the RAREST form of paralysis – and paralysis occurred in less than 1% of all polio infections?”

 

When they say, “Where did you get THAT conspiracy theory?”

 

You can say, “From a CDC publication called the Pink Book. You can research it yourself online….”

 

These are the types of sound bites you need to practice. Know these little one-liners so you can share short but accurate facts about the current ‘polio scare tactic’ with your friends.

 

To learn more about POLIO, go here.