Post-polio syndrome, the hidden face of polio

At the age of 11 months, Dr. Jorge Eufracio Téllez, from Guadalajara, was diagnosed with poliomyelitis.

He was born in 1949, so there was still no vaccine against the disease, it was until 1955 when the first version of the biological product appeared.

He underwent a series of surgeries and treatments that allowed him to walk, lead a virtually normal life and even obtain a gynecologist's degree.

Shortly after the age of 40, Jorge began to experience weakness, fatigue, discomfort in the back muscles and extremities.

He started using a cane, then two, until he could not take it anymore. What has happened is post-polio syndrome, a disease that occurs in six to eight out of ten polio survivors.

At the update seminar for journalists #LasVacunasFuncionan, organized by Sanofi Laboratories for Latin America and Mexico, Jorge said that this syndrome was the other side of the disease; very little known and therefore underdiagnosed.

Every 24 October, World Polio Day is commemorated around the world.

"In Mexico, you are under-diagnosed 100%, because you go to the doctor, you tell him your symptoms and you say" do not worry, it's old age "because they do not know not that post-polio syndrome exists, and they do not know it.They want to know, it's very sad but it's like that. "

As poliomyelitis is a disease that stopped presenting cases in Mexico in 1990 (last patient in Tomatlán, Jalisco), the generations of doctors did not experience the case closely or never treated the patient. cases are not willing to detect the syndrome and the people who suffer from it do not receive the necessary attention.

Otherwise, it happens in Brazil, where the syndrome is well identified and where there is a rehabilitation center for polio survivors, where they are treated to help them improve their quality of life.

Immunization key to eradicating polio worldwide

It is estimated that about 20 million people in the world are infected with polio and that up to 80% of them will develop at some point the post-polio syndrome, which it does not should not be confused with the sequelae, which are the disabilities, especially at the motor and physical levels that have left the system. disease.

Given the lack of information in Mexican health facilities, Jorge has become a computer expert, as he says, by studying polio and its consequences in all the books he has found and exchanging his points of view. people who live the same thing as him.

Although polio is about to be eradicated and there are only cases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, it is essential to continue to benefit from good immunization coverage. and spread the benefits of polio vaccine, warned Lucia Bricks, medical director of whooping cough, polio, Haemophilus influenzae and Sanofi Pasteur Latin America meningitis.

Learn more

• According to information from the Mayo Clinic, in the United States, post-polio syndrome is a series of symptoms that can invalidate a person after 30 to 40 years of polio.
• Symptoms include weakness and joint and muscle pain, fatigue due to reduced activity, muscle atrophy, difficulty breathing, reduced tolerance to low temperatures, and difficulty sleeping.
• The syndrome does not exist, but it can help the patient to have a good quality of life, to treat his symptoms and to reduce his discomfort.