Question
Can this condition lead to paralysis?
Answer
It cannot be diagnosed as paralysis yet. Mild polio accounts for 80% to 90% of clinical diagnoses of infectious diseases, mainly occurring in children. Symptoms are mild, and the central nervous system is not affected. After exposure to the pathogen, a slight fever, discomfort, headache, sore throat, and nausea may appear 3 to 5 days later, and recovery generally occurs within 24 to 72 hours. Severe cases often suddenly occur a few days after the onset of mild cases, and it is more common for symptoms to appear without any preceding symptoms, especially in older children and adults. The incubation period is usually 7 to 14 days, but occasionally it can be longer. After onset, fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, deep muscle pain may occur, sometimes with hyperesthesia and sensory abnormalities. Urinary retention and muscle spasms with disappearance of deep tendon reflexes may appear during the acute phase. The disappearance of deep tendon reflexes, asymmetrical muscle weakness or paralysis may also occur, which mainly depends on the site of spinal cord or medulla damage. Respiratory failure may be due to paralysis of respiratory muscles caused by spinal cord damage or due to viral damage to the respiratory center itself. Difficulty swallowing, nasal regurgitation, and a nasal voice during speech are early symptoms of medulla damage.Brain symptoms may occasionally be more prominent. The cerebrospinal fluid sugar is normal, protein slightly elevated, cell count 10 to 300 cells/μl (lymphocytes predominate).Peripheral blood white cell count is normal or slightly elevated.