Introduction
In the developed world, polio is often thought as a disease of the past. We have fought against this debilitating infection with scientific breakthroughs in the last century. We have beaten off and reconquered much of what was once under polio's seemingly unclenching fist. Yet, parts of the world are still plagued with polio, causing lower limb paralysis and disfiguration every day. There you can find the frontlines of the current polio eradication war. Why has it been so difficult to eliminate polio? What are its biological components and mechanisms? How far are we from eradicating it entirely from the lives of vulnerable children worldwide? This module aims to explore these pressing questions and more about the poliovirus.
Learning Objectives
1. Recount the history of polio, its impact, and how the virus has been battled.
a. Highlight major events from its discovery to vaccine development.
2. Understand the basic biology of the poliovirus.
3. Describe early symptoms common to polio.
4. Describe symptoms of neural involvement in polio infection.
5. Understand the transmission of the poliovirus.
6. Discuss the mechanisms of the oral and inactivated polio vaccines.
7. Describe in general terms the development of vaccine-derived poliovirus.
8. Summarize the World Health Organization's initiatives for polio eradication.
9. Explain the biological factors of the poliovirus that impact eradication efforts.
a. What factors aid eradication efforts?
b. What factors hinder eradication efforts?
The History of Polio
RK: Side note to Dr. Lamorte : Looks like Softchalk 8 has created this Presentor activity to solve the issue of the slideshow activity only showing you the Photo OR the content, but not showing both at the same time. So I started making this as a Presentor activity, but it looks like the content is limited to only 300 characters. SO I gave up and made a Slideshow activity above.
Anyway, I thought you would like to sample the latest interactivity :)
