Introduction:
Abortive poliomyelitis is a minor form of poliomyelitis, chiefly affecting young children without involving the central nervous system. Common symptoms include low-grade fever, headache, sore throat, fatigue, and vomiting after exposure to the virus. These symptoms take around five to seven days to subside. There is complete recovery within seven days without any permanent deformity. The spread of this virus is through the fecal-oral route or aerosol droplets.
What Is Poliomyelitis?
Poliomyelitis is a major form in comparison to abortive poliomyelitis. The symptoms usually occur after seven to 14 days after exposure to the virus. It is a highly transmissible disease caused by RNA viruses of the Enterovirus genus (Picornaviridae family). The polio virus disrupts the central nervous system and can cause complete paralysis. Initial symptoms include fever, headache, malaise, and vomiting. It can also cause limb pain and a stiff neck and may lead to irreversible paralysis of the limbs. Poliomyelitis can be of two forms depending on the severity:
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Minor or abortive poliomyelitis.
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Major paralytic poliomyelitis or aseptic meningitis without paralysis.
What Causes Poliomyelitis?
Poliomyelitis is caused by RNA viruses of the Enterovirus genus (Picornaviridae family).
There are three types of viruses (depending on the antigenic strain) that cause poliomyelitis:
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Type 1.
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Type 2.
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Type 3.
The Polio vaccine provides the best protection against all three types. In September 2015, Type 1 polio was completely eradicated, with the last case detected in 1999 in India. Similarly, Type 3 was eradicated in 2019. Now only Type 1 poliovirus exists, which needs to be eradicated.
What Is Abortive Poliomyelitis?
Abortive poliomyelitis is a mild infection, particularly affecting children. The symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, and vomiting, which lasts for five to seven days. These symptoms usually occur three to five days after exposure and have no neurological involvement. Physical examination also shows no sign of any illness except for raised temperature. The term abortive means not reaching completion or not fully developed. Hence, abortive poliomyelitis is a form of the disease which does not develop in its full form and only shows minor symptoms.
What Are the Symptoms of Abortive Poliomyelitis?
Poliovirus infections can lead to a wide variety of clinical features, ranging from mild infection to paralysis and even death. Majorly poliovirus infections are asymptomatic, with around 70 % of infected cases showing no symptoms and around 25 % experiencing mild symptoms.
Paralytic poliomyelitis is seen in less than one percent of infections. The disease is classified into spinal, bulbar, and bulbospinal types, depending on the site of the affected motor cells of the central nervous system.
Symptoms of abortive poliomyelitis are very mild. It does not affect the brain and the spinal cord. The symptoms are of short duration and may include one or more of the following:
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Malaise.
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Sore throat.
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Decreased appetite.
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Abdominal pain.
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Nausea.
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Vomiting.
The symptoms of abortive poliomyelitis usually last for about two to five days and then disappear on their own. An extremely small percentage of the population infected with poliovirus may develop severe symptoms that affect the central nervous system leading to abnormal sensations in the skin (paresthesia), an infection in the meninges of the brain (aseptic meningitis), inability to move the limbs (paralysis). Paralysis is the most dangerous form of poliomyelitis, leading to permanent dysfunction of the limbs.
How Is Abortive Poliomyelitis Transmitted?
The poliovirus is highly infectious and can be transmitted from person to person. It thrives in the throat and intestine of the patient. The infected person can transmit it through feces, droplets from cough or sneezing, or intake of contaminated food and water. The virus can be alive in the feces of an infected person for many weeks. People without any symptoms can also transmit the virus to healthy individuals, which can cause the disease.
What Is the Prevention and Treatment of Abortive Poliomyelitis?
Abortive poliomyelitis and severe forms of poliomyelitis can be prevented by taking the Polio vaccine at regular intervals during childhood. In the United States, inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IVP) is given at the following age to children:
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Two months.
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Four months.
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Between 6 to 18 months.
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Between four to six years of age.
Inactivated poliovirus vaccine shows side effects like redness and pain at the injection site.
The oral poliovirus vaccine (OVP) is also used in many parts of the world with excellent results.
In the United States, sometimes adults also need to be vaccinated against the virus. Since most of the population is already vaccinated, only those adults who take a booster shot are at great risk of getting the disease if they are traveling to a polio-infected part of the world or if they are in constant contact with polio patients. No specific treatment is available for poliomyelitis, and the case can be managed symptomatically. Availability of clean water and good hygienic sanitation practices are important for reducing the risk of transmission of poliomyelitis in endemic countries.
Conclusion:
The term abortive means not reaching completion or not fully developed. Hence, abortive poliomyelitis is a form of the disease which does not develop in its full form and only shows minor symptoms. On clinical examination, there is no sign of any illness except for raised temperature. The virus transmits through the fecal-oral route, droplets while sneezing, or by consuming contaminated food.
Abortive poliomyelitis is a less severe form of poliomyelitis that targets children with minor symptoms. It does not affect the central nervous system. Usually, the patient complains of low-grade fever, headache, sore throat, fatigue, and vomiting after the virus enters the body.
Poliomyelitis, also known as polio, is a vaccine-preventable viral infection affecting the motor cells of the central nervous system (CNS). It has caused a high number of mortalities worldwide, along with acute paralysis and lifelong disabilities. However, immunization on a large scale has eradicated polio from most parts of the world.
