Infantile Palsy – What is it, Causes and Treatments!

Infantile Palsy- What it is, Causes and Treatments of this disease that affects thousands of children. In addition, Infantile Palsy,  also known as polio, is a viral infection caused by the poliovirus. The disease can be moderate or severe. In the most severe cases polio can lead to paralysis and death.

A stroke is a serious medical condition that occurs when the blood supply to your brain is disrupted. Like all organs, the brain needs a constant supply of blood that contains oxygen and nutrients to function properly. If the blood supply is restricted or stopped, brain cells will begin to die, which can lead to brain damage that often results in paralysis.

Infantile Palsy does not spread easily in communities with high vaccination rates. When poliovirus spreads, it usually happens inside the home. The virus can spread through contact with objects, toilets or hands. In unvaccinated people it is also possible for the polio virus to spread through respiratory secretions.

Causes of Infantile Palsy: Infantile Palsy is caused by a poliovirus. This polyvirus is transmitted mainly through food and contaminated water or feces, and multiplies in the throat and intestines. From there it passes into the bloodstream and reaches the nervous system, where it destroys motor cells and causes flaccid paralysis of the muscles innervated by them.

The muscles most affected are those of the lower limbs, but they can also be others, including breathing and swallowing muscles, generating serious and even deadly conditions. This form of transmission makes poor hygiene habits easier to spread. Humans are the only host of the disease . The four most common causes of Infantile Palsy are stroke, head injury, spinal cord injury, and multiple sclerosis.

Stroke:  A stroke is a serious medical condition that occurs when the blood supply to your brain is disturbed. Like all organs, the brain needs a constant supply of blood that contains oxygen and nutrients to function properly. If the blood supply is restricted or stopped, brain cells will begin to die, which can lead to brain damage that often results in paralysis.

Head Injury: A severe head injury can cause brain damage leading to Infantile Palsy . The surface of the brain can tear or bruise when it hits the skull, damaging blood vessels and nerves. Paralysis can occur if a part of the brain that controls specific muscles is damaged during a severe head injury. Damage to the left side of the brain can cause paralysis on the right side of the body, and damage to the right side of the brain can cause paralysis on the left side of the body.
Read more about serious head injuries.

Spinal Cord Injury: The spinal cord is part of your central nervous system. It’s a thick bundle of nerves that runs from your brain , through your neck and spine, into a canal of vertebrae. Its main function is to transmit signals to and from the brain and body. For example, the spinal cord transmits nerve signals, such as hot or cold sensations, back to the brain . If the neck or spine is injured, the spinal cord can also be damaged. This means the brain may no longer be able to transmit signals to the muscles, causing paralysis.

The exact location where spinal injury occurs can have a significant effect on the severity of paralysis. The longer the spine the injury occurs, the worse the paralysis. For example, an injury to the middle of the spine will often cause paraplegia (paralysis of the lower limbs). A neck injury, such as a broken neck, will often result in quadriplegia (four-limb paralysis, also known as quadriplegia) as well as loss of normal lung function, which means the person will need to use a ventilator to breathe.

The Most Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injury are:

• Motor vehicle accidents
• Accidents during work
• Accidents during sports or other types of activity
• Spinal cord palsy caused by disease rather than injury

The nature of these causes means that most spinal cord injuries occur in men (who account for 80% of all cases) and younger people. It is estimated that half of all spinal cord injuries occur in people aged between 16 and 30 years.

Multiple Sclerosis: This is a condition in which nerve fibers in the spinal cord are damaged by the immune system (the body’s natural defense against infection and disease ). The immune system mistakenly attacks a substance called myelin, which surrounds nerve fibers and helps in the transmission of nerve signals. .

Symptoms of Infantile Palsy:

• Severe pain in the back, neck and muscles from the development of muscle weakness;
• Fever;
• Paralysis of one of the legs, one of the arms, of the thoracic or abdominal muscles and
• Urinary retention.
• There may also be difficulty speaking and swallowing, which can cause respiratory failure due to the accumulation of secretions in the airways, but this is rare.

Infantile Paralysis Treatments:  There is no cure for Infantile Palsy , so the focus of treatment is on decreasing the feeling of discomfort, accelerating recovery and ensuring the patient’s quality of life. Treatment should be started as soon as possible to avoid complications, because if a person infected with the virus is not treated at the first sign of the disease , they will be at increased risk of death. Home care and accompanied by the doctor can help in the recovery of the patient with Infantile Palsy .

• Use of analgesics to relieve pain
• Portable ventilators to aid breathing
• Moderate exercise (physiotherapy) to prevent deformation and loss of muscle function in case of paralytic polio
• Nutritive diet.