What are the symptoms of polio and when do they start?
Polio symptoms include fever, malaise, headache, nausea, vomiting, and excruciating muscle pain and stiffness in the neck and back. Infection ranges in severity from an unapparent infection to a paralytic disease which may result in death. How long is polio contagious? The incubation period of polio is usually six to 20 days for paralytic cases, with a range of three to 35 days. Patients are most infectious from seven to 10 days before and after the onset of symptoms. However, patients are potentially contagious as long as the virus is present in the throat and feces. The virus persists in the throat for approximately one week after the onset of illness and is excreted in the feces for several weeks or occasionally months. Is there a vaccine for polio? Yes. Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is currently the vaccine used in the United States. The oral polio vaccine (OPV) is often used in other parts of the world where polio still exists, but it is not recommended for use in the U.S. Curre
