poliomyelitis

poliomyelitis
—poliomyelitic /poh'lee oh muy'euh lit"ik/, adj.
/poh'lee oh muy'euh luy"tis/, n. Pathol.
an acute viral disease, usually affecting children and young adults, caused by any of three polioviruses, characterized by inflammation of the motor neurons of the brain stem and spinal cord, and resulting in a motor paralysis, followed by muscular atrophy and often permanent deformities. Also called acute anterior poliomyelitis, infantile paralysis, polio.
[1875-80; < NL < Gk polió(s) gray + NL myelitis MYELITIS]

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Acute infectious viral disease that can cause flaccid paralysis of muscles.

Severe epidemics killed or paralyzed many people, mostly children and young adults, until the 1960s, when Jonas Salk's injectable killed vaccine and Albert B. Sabin's oral attenuated live vaccine controlled polio in the developed world. Flulike symptoms with diarrhea may progress to back and limb pain, muscle tenderness, and stiff neck. Destruction of spinal cord motor cells causes paralysis, ranging from transient weakness to complete, permanent paralysis, in fewer than 20% of patients. Patients may lose the ability to use their limbs, to breathe, or to swallow and speak. They may need physical medicine and rehabilitation, mechanical breathing assistance, or tracheal suction to remove secretions. A "postpolio syndrome" occurs decades later in some cases, with weakness of muscles that had recovered.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Poliomyelitis — Poliomyelitis …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • poliomyelitis — [pō΄lē ō mī΄ə līt′is] n. [ModL < Gr polios, gray + MYELITIS] an acute infectious disease, esp. of children, caused by a viral inflammation of the gray matter of the spinal cord: it is accompanied by paralysis of various muscle groups that… …   English World dictionary

  • Poliomyelītis — (griech.), Entzündung der grauen Vordersäulen des Rückenmarks. P. anterior acuta der Erwachsenen oder atrophische akute Spinallähmung, eine sehr seltene Krankheit, mit schlaffer Lähmung der Extremitäten verbunden, kann sich völlig oder teilweise… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Poliomyelitis — Polĭomyelītis (grch.), durch einen Bazillus hervorgerufene Entzündung des Rückenmarks, vornehmlich der vordern grauen Hörner, führt zu Lähmung …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • poliomyelitis — (n.) 1878, from Gk. polios grey (see FALLOW (Cf. fallow) (adj.)) + myelos marrow + ITIS (Cf. itis) inflammation. So called because the gray matter in the spinal cord is inflamed, which causes paralysis. The earlier name was infantile paralysis… …   Etymology dictionary

  • poliomyelitis — ► NOUN ▪ an infectious disease, caused by a virus, that affects the central nervous system and can cause temporary or permanent paralysis. ORIGIN from Greek polios grey + muelos marrow …   English terms dictionary

  • Poliomyelitis — Polio redirects here. For the virus, see Poliovirus. Not to be confused with poliosis, a condition of the hair being or becoming white or grey. Poliomyelitis Classification and external resources A man with an atrophie …   Wikipedia

  • Poliomyelitis — Klassifikation nach ICD 10 A80.0 Akute paralytische Poliomyelitis durch Impfvirus A80.1 Akute paralytische Poliomyelitis durch importiertes Wildvirus …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Poliomyelitis — An acute and sometimes devastating viral disease. Man is the only natural host for poliovirus. The virus enters the mouth and multiplies in lymphoid tissues in the pharynx and intestine. Small numbers of virus enter the blood and go to other… …   Medical dictionary

  • poliomyelitis — infantile paralysis; = polio; n. an infectious virus disease affecting the central nervous system. The virus is excreted in the faeces of an infected person and the disease is therefore most common where sanitation is poor. However, epidemics may …   The new mediacal dictionary

  • poliomyelitis — Infantile paralysis In fan*tile pa*ral y*sis (Med.) An acute viral disease, affecting almost exclusively infants and young adults, characterized by inflammation of the anterior horns of the gray substance of the spinal cord. It is attended with… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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