Recently a number of children in California have developed a poliomyelitis-like paralysis. The cause of this paralysis is not yet known, and information about the outbreak is scarce. Here is what we know so far: At least 5, and perhaps as many as 20 children have suffered weakness or paralysis in one or more limbs. …
Poliovirus has been found in sewage in Israel. The virus detected is not vaccine-derived poliovirus; it is wild-type 1 poliovirus, the strain that occurs naturally in the wild and which the World Health Organization is trying very hard to eradicate from the planet. As part of the global effort to eradicate poliovirus, environmental samples from …
Poliovirus silently (and not so silently) spreads Read More »
This discussion of West Nile virus was recorded at the headquarters of the American Society for Microbiology during a “Microbes After Hours” event on May 6, 2013. The speakers are Dr. Lyle Petersen Lyle R. Petersen, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases at CDC, and Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, MD, FIDSA, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at George …
Recently while driving north on the New York State Thruway I passed the exit for the town of Coxsackie, NY (population 8,884). I grabbed my camera and photographed the exit sign, and reminded myself to write about the virus named after this small town. In the summer of 1947 there were several small outbreaks of …
The clinical signs of an acute viral infection – characterized by rapid onset of disease with a short but sometimes severe course – are often obvious. These include coughing, sneezing, rashes and poxes, or headache. What takes place within the body while these symptoms develop? Examination of the time course of an acute infection such …
Poliovirus is the etiologic agent of the paralytic disease known as poliomyelitis. It’s also the virus I’ve worked on for most of my career. The World Health Organization is in the midst of a massive effort to eradicate the disease, an undertaking that has encountered a number of obstacles. In coming posts I’d like to …
