Now We Have To Worry About A Polio Resurgence, Too?
Now that Bob Kennedy's vaccine advisor is saying we should just reconsider mandatory vaccines for children, experts are bracing for more polio case. Survivors say the medical system is not ready for polio.
“We don’t have a healthcare infrastructure to take care of a polio outbreak,” said Grace Rossow, an operating-room communications coordinator in Illinois. “They don’t know how to treat it. It is a massive problem if we have a resurgence of polio.”
There is no cure for polio; treatment for acute cases usually involves supportive care. Between a quarter and a half of patients develop post-polio syndrome, a lifelong condition. Yet with the advent of highly effective vaccines, doctors who have even seen polio cases have become increasingly rare.
.Patients with post-polio have weakening muscles and bones, which affects their ability to walk without support, and falls can easily lead to broken bones. They can develop scoliosis. They struggle with extreme joint pain, fatigue, temperature regulation, and secondary complications from paralysis.
In polio orthopedics, surgeons used to perform procedures such as tendon transfers around the hip, knee and ankle to help improve strength. Those procedures are now rarely done on ankles.