The

Cunning
Predator
Rody A Aroche Del Sol
Human Anatomy & Physiology
The Cunning Predator

Tuesday/Thursday 9:30am

Summer has arrived and everyone is exited to enjoy the hot climate. Children and adults
submerge in the sun rays while perhaps swimming in a warm beach and indulging on the heated
sand without knowing that there is still a predator out there, the worst kind of predator, the one that
no one suspects because even while being on the edge of extinction it has the ability to disguise
itself and even strike without warning until it is too late. This predator can attack at any time
throughout year but prefers to do so mostly in the summer, and while everyone is at danger it does
have a favorite pray: children. By now you may think this danger is a shark or perhaps some other
type of marine creature but unfortunately you are wrong, because the predator in question has no
boundaries, and while you may feel safe, unfortunately that is not the case, because you are at risk,
your children are at risk and so is the entire world. The predator that will be discussed here is called
Poliomyelitis, mostly known as Polio, and it has been the cause of many different body
disfigurements, paralysis and even death. In this paper we will discuss the infectious disease
Poliomyelitis, specifically its origins, the impact it has on the human body as well as the global
efforts in order to treat it, control it and eradicate it.
Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious viral disease transmitted through fecal-oral routes, often
through contaminated food or water. Though polio can strike anyone at any age, children are
especially at risk.1 The virus occurs mainly during the summer season but in some cases it has been
recorded to strike at random showing no symptoms and striking in total silence in about 90% of the
cases. In the remaining 10% of the cases, it may show symptoms such as headaches, fever, fatigue
or vomiting which in most instances tends to clear up within a week or so.2 Polio has been
prominent in the human race for many years; The oldest account of the disease dates back to 1193
B.C. where Pharaoh Sipta, an ancient ruler of Egypt, was said to be targeted by the disease as a young
boy leaving his left foot and leg deformed.3 Accounts like these have been engraved in stone,
depicted in art and have been mentioned on many different ancient stories. The Bible happens to be
one of depictions, which prove the existence of the virus, but it does not specifically denote any
medical awareness, at least not until much later.
In 1789, Michael Underwood, a British physician, published the first known clinical
description of polio as a Debility of the Lower Extremities. 3 Not much later after that in the 19th
century, the disease became more popular as it made more and more appearances in the form of
small epidemics specifically targeting children. In 1908 immunologist Karl Landsteiner and his
associate Ervin Popper suggested that the disease was not a bacteria as everyone thought but that it
had to be a virus. Unfortunately, without the technology of an electron microscope at the time, their
remarks remained a theory until it was confirmed much later.2 In more recent history, Polio has had
some significant outbreaks. The first known polio outbreak in the United States was in Vermont in
1894. In 1916, New York City experienced the first large epidemic of polio, with over 9,000 cases
and 2,343 deaths. The 1916 toll nationwide was 27,000 cases and 6,000 deaths. Epidemics
worsened during the century. In 1952 a record 57,628 cases of polio were reported in the United
States. Between 1949 and 1954, 35 percent of those who contracted polio were adults.4Since these
occurrences, not only has the United States been more aware of Polio but the entire world has also
united with a common cause to prevent such a disease which has such a malicious impact on the
human body.
Polio is an RNA virus that is rather easy to unwillingly acquire. All a person would have to
do is swallow some contaminated water. This could be from any source such as a river, lake or
stream where they might be swimming. Once this happens, the virus infects the throat and intestinal

tract. Once in the cells of the intestinal tract, the virus replicates, or reproduces, making thousands
of new viruses. The circle continues as these viruses are then released as feces and return to the
sewage system looking for another human, as we are the natural host for the virus.3As you can
imagine, it could be very easy for children to acquire this virus as they are less aware of all the harm
that surrounds us. They could be playing with a friend outside and acquire the virus from sewer
water that may be spilled on the grass or street; Then they could insert their fingers in their mouth
and that would be all it would take. But as previously mentioned, not only children were at risk; the
malicious virus also struck adults. No matter the age, skin color, personal beliefs or social status,
everyone was at risk. A perfect example of this was when the virus infected president Franklin D.
Roosevelt causing partial paralysis. This unfortunate outcome would be something that would shake
a whole nation and would shine a light on the epidemic in addition to creating funds to fight and
prevent it such as The March of Dimes, a non profit effort to raise money for those affected by the
disease. About one percent of all polio patients develop the paralytic form of polio. The symptoms
can start out as a stiff neck and back, muscle pain, fever, headaches, feeling weak or fatigued,
vomiting, meningitis and ultimately paralysis.3 The virus spreads through the bloodstream attacking
cells and ends up infecting the spinal cord cells and destroying the ones responsible for receiving
nerve signals for movement resulting in paralysis. Unfortunately, that is not the worst-case scenario
as up to 10% of these cases end up in death.3Many patients, through hard work and commitment,
are able to battle the disease and return to an almost full recovery.
One of the worst things to accept is that this virus never stops; it is devious and full of
surprises. Many survivors after many years of believing that they had defeated the disease and it
was just a thing of the past end up running into a brick wall of disappointment. This wall is called
PPS, which is short for Post-Polio Syndrome. Survivors of the 1950s Polio epidemic, most well
over age 60, have once again developed symptoms of weakness, fatigue, and musculoskeletal pain
many decades after the initial episode of acute paralytic poliomyelitis.5 Many of these symptoms,
just like when the virus first started to spread, are now confused with regular illnesses such as the
flu or age related symptoms which usually delays treatment of the virus, if even detected, and it
ends up affecting the host tremendously as they are usually weaker due to age. Many of the effects
caused on the body by PPS are musculoskeletal changes such as muscle atrophy, decrease in muscle
strength, difficulty breathing caused by respiratory muscle weakness, poor quality of sleep due to
pain, restless legs and nocturia, urologic symptoms such as difficulty emptying the bladder as well
as psychological symptoms related to pain and fatigue.5 There are many ways to treat the effects of
Polio through therapeutic rehabilitation processes, medications to alleviate pain and reduce bacterial
infections and even mechanical devices to assist with breathing, but the best action one can take is
to definitely avoid it in the first place because it is uncertain how it will react once it takes over the
host, and if defeated, when it will return.
Polio prevention has been a worldwide effort for many years. Not only the eradication of the
virus but the medical accomplishments in treating it and creating strategic plans to obtain the best
results for the patients trying to overcome harsh effects it induces. It all started with a young
scientist whose goal was to help humanity. He turned down a lucrative medical career for the sole
purpose of researching viruses that majorly affected people and wanted to dedicate his life to help
find a cure for those viruses. That scientist was Jonas Salk. In 1947, Salk began research on finding
the different strands of the virus after building his own lab at the university of Pittsburg Medical
School with the sole purpose of finding a vaccine for Polio.3 Apart from the monetary struggles in
order to fund his lab, there was a lot of skepticism on the creation of a vaccine that would work.
Previously, others had tried and failed causing deaths due to human trial on children. After finding

out that the Poliovirus could be cultivated in non-nervous tissue instead of only spinal, which would
make creating a vaccine almost impossible, he immediately knew that there was a chance and began
his journey to find a vaccine before the disease could claim any more lives. In 1955, Salk released
the first vaccine against the dreaded Poliovirus. Two years after, he himself tested it by injecting it
into his own body and also his wife and children because he felt so confident about the effectiveness
of it and wanted to show the public. Salk had made a vaccine from killed virus that he treated
with formaldehyde, which rendered the virus completely unable to cause Polio.3 When asked who
owned the patent to the vaccine, Jonas Salk said The people do, there is no patent; Could you
patent the sun? That proved again that he was an advocate for making the world a better place and
not profiting from the pain and suffering of others considering he could have profited over $7
billion at the time.6
Other scientists also started working on a vaccine during that time. Amongst them was
another notable scientist called Albert Sabin who was also making great progress but with a
different approach. There was only one problem with Salks vaccine; it required recurring doses.
That translated to a lot of money to generate and distribute such large quantities of medication. The
cost of items in order to inject millions of people such as needles and vials, and the vast number of
nurses required to administer the vaccine, draw blood from patients and repeat over at a later time to
make sure the virus had been eradicated and was not developing again was immense. This is where
Albert Sabins work came into place. He, in contrast to Salk, believed that a properly weakened
version of the virus could be more effective in completely getting rid of the virus with a single dose.
Not only did he accomplish that but also made additional progress. In 1954, Sabin also tested the
vaccine on himself and his two daughters. The vaccine he had created did not only have to be
administered just once but it could be taken orally and did not require the presence of a nurse,
reducing the overall costs greatly. The hard work and dedication of these scientists led to the
salvation of many lives, especially children.
Today Polio still affects many countries for many different reasons. Regardless of the ability
to have access to knowledge of the effects of the virus and a vaccine to prevent it, the virus still
persists because its cure is not able to reach those in need. In some cases, there are countries that are
extremely poor and are unable to obtain vaccines. In other cases, some religions prevent the use of
western medicine making the eradication very difficult. The World Health Organization is the
primary source of assistance for this the prevention of Polio, but their efforts are still not enough. In
countries like in Syria, due to the civil disturbance, vaccination programs are often disrupted. So
much of its population is unable to take necessary precautions, which has led to recent outbreaks.
While polio was considered endemic in over 125 countries in 1988, it is currently endemic in only
three: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan, most notably in remote areas. But the threat is still
present.7Other countries are also at risk such as Africa, India, and very poor countries in South
America. The major threat is that a virus like this can spur to surrounding countries or be spread to
other places with the risk of people flying over in a plane, for example, and by just being in contact
with a few others, those few can spread it to a larger number and so on. From the ancient times until
the great U.S. epidemic in the 1950s and now, one thing is for sure, the battle against Polio and its
adverse impact on the human body is far from over, and until more medical discoveries are made
that can perhaps allow us to kill the virus once and for all, the human race will continue to unite and
fight the cunning predator.

References
1. Fujimura, Sara F. "The Man Who Made Polio History." Perspectives in Health 10.2 (2005):
10. Gale Database. Web. 1 Jan. 2015. <http://galenet.galegroup.com.db11.linccweb.org>.
2. Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth, and K. Lee Learner. "Polio (Poliomyelitis)." Infectious Diseases.
Vol. 2. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2008. 648-649. Print.
3. Alan, Hecht. Polio, Second Edition. New York: Chelsea House, 2009. InfoBase eBooks.
Web. 25 Mar. 2015. <http://ebooks.infobasepublishing.com.db11.linccweb.org/View.aspx?
InstID=1337&ISBN=9781438117287 >.
4. "Epidemic of Polio within the United States." Whatever Happened to Polio? The
Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Web.
<http://amhistory.si.edu/polio/americanepi/communities.htm>.
5. Chasens, Eileen R., and Mary G. Umlaut. "Post-Polio Syndrome." The American Journal of
Nursing Vol. 100.No. 12 (2000): 60-61 63 65 67. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Web.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/3522194>.
6. Stanley, David. Pharmacy 101: Could you patent the sun? Drug Topics Aug. 2014: 18.
Academic OneFile. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
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id=GALE
%7CA381838126&v=2.1&u=lincclin_hcc&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=a23d751d93ef44
6772a7871ccfe1542a>
7. "World Health Organization Reports Possible Polio Outbreak in Syria." UWIRE Text 25
Oct. 2013: 1. Academic OneFile. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
<http://db11.linccweb.org/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.db11.linccweb.org/ps/i.do?
id=GALE
%7CA346932330&v=2.1&u=lincclin_hcc&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=3d247e998151bf
361d83d5bde8809ee8>