A 42-year-old member asked:
Will poliomyelitis kill me?
2 doctor answers • 4 doctors weighed in

Dr. Carlo Hatemanswered
Pulmonary Critical Care 26 years experience
Usually not: In more than 90% of cases, polio does not affect the brain or spinal cord. Complete recovery is then expected. However, when the brain an spinal cord are affected, chances of death increase, but recovery with disability is more common than death.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago

Dr. James Fergusonanswered
Pediatrics 47 years experience
? today ?: Most patients would have this gut virus & recover without problems. If/when the few that developed myelitis (an attack of the nervous system causing injury to nerves) the outcome was variable. It could paralyze a limb or the breathing muscle. Survival depended on complications/recovery.Although vaccination has eliminated the problem in North America it persists in parts of the world & could return
785 viewsAnswered >2 years ago
Last updated Mar 1, 2017
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