Here’s one child out of 4,000 who received their polio vaccination on Monday, August 5, 2013.
Poliomyelitis /poʊlioʊmaɪəlaɪtɪs/, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute, viral, infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route. The term derives from the Greek poliós (πολιός), meaning “grey”, myelós (µυελός “marrow”), referring to the grey matter of the spinal cord, and the suffix -itis, which denotes inflammation., i.e., inflammation of the spinal cord’s grey matter, although a severe infection can extend into the brainstem and even higher structures, resulting in polioencephalitis, producing apnea that requires mechanical assistance such as an iron lung.
Although approximately 90% of polio infections cause no symptoms at all, affected individuals can exhibit a range of symptoms if the virus enters the blood stream. In about 1 percent of cases, the virus enters the central nervous system, preferentially infecting and destroying motor neurons, leading to muscle weakness and acute flaccid paralysis.
we got that from Wikipedia, so you won’t have to.
The Israeli Health Ministry has kicked off a major operation to vaccinate children against the polio virus after fears of a polio outbreak were sparked earlier in the summer when the virus turned up in sewage samples.
I like the daddy with small child picture, but I have to admit that when our daughter was little, I waited outside the doctor’s office while my wife held the child down for her inoculations. I couldn’t bear seeing my child being poked with needles. If I had to, I measured up to the task, but whenever my wife was available – I let her do it.
Small confessions.