What is Polio?
Poliomyelitis, often called Polio or infantile paralysis, is a viral, infectious communicable disease. Poliomyelitis mostly infects children and young adults, both male and female. Polio epidemics have harmed thousands of people, causing paralysis and even death. The eradication of Polio is important for the well being of third world countries and is a single-minded goal for many organizations.
Poliovirus
Poliomyelitis is caused by an infection from a member of the family of Picornaviridae, known as Poliovirus (PV). The transmission of Poliovirus most often occurs through contact with the stool of the infected person, known as fecal-oral transmission. A less likely transmission occurs through contact with infected saliva, know as oral-oral transmission. When a person contracts Polio, a group of RNA viruses settle in the gastrointestinal tract, specifically the pharynx and the intestine. Its structure is very simple, a coccus shaped virus composed of a single RNA strand enclosed in a capsid. The capsid proteins protect the virus’s genetic material and enable Poliovirus to infect the grey matter of the spinal cord. Poliovirus is neither gram-negative nor gram-positive because it is a virus and does not have a cell wall to stain.