Dear Dr. Roach: I am a woman in my late 70s, a 1949 polio patient. For many years, I have been told that because of poliomyelitis I cannot tolerate any preventive inoculations, including flu, pneumonia, shingles, etc. I was allowed to get flu shots when they first became available; however, when additives were included later on, I was instructed not to get it any longer. My concern is if I will be able to safely partake of the coronavirus inoculation when it becomes available. Most present-day doctors have no experience with polio, and often input is vague.
P.G.
Poliomyelitis was, for many years, a terror that parents feared every summer. Until a vaccine became available in 1955, polio could strike without warning. Although the vast majority of people had only mild symptoms (90% to 95% of cases were asymptomatic), about one person per thousand with polio developed poliomyelitis, a serious complication of the nervous system that was sometimes fatal and two-thirds of the time led to permanent weakness. Why some people got terribly ill and died while others had no symptoms remains a mystery, although we know some risk factors for developing poliomyelitis, such as older age, excess exercise while infected and tonsillectomy.
I am surprised to hear the recommendations against standard vaccines for you. I haven鈥檛 read that before and I have taken care of quite a few polio survivors. Experts confirm that standard vaccines, including flu, pneumonia and shingles, are recommended for those with a history of poliomyelitis. There are no additives in the vaccines placing polio survivors at increased risk.
It is too early to speculate on a coronavirus vaccine. Although many groups are working on a vaccine, efficacy and safety testing is extensive before a vaccine is approved and the process must not be rushed. However, I doubt that a history of polio will prevent you or the many other polio survivors from getting the vaccine when one is approved.
There are many places for you to get more information: Post-polio.org is one I often use. It has reliable information from experts, which is increasingly important as the number of physicians who have taken care of polio survivors decreases.
Dear Dr. Roach: Will you please explain how a person who is not sick, or has no symptoms, tests positive for COVID-19? How do doctors know he has it? The symptoms they tell us are the same symptoms we knew made us sick when we were young. Our mother put us to bed, gave us some medicine, and we were good to go in a couple of days. Don鈥檛 we carry a lot of germs?
L.J.T.
The majority of COVID-19 infections have minimal or no symptoms.
People without symptoms could be tested due to concerns about exposure or as part of a program to identify the prevalence in the population. The test is specific for the genetic material of the virus.
It is true that for many people, the symptoms are similar to the common cold or another of the many germs (bacteria and viruses) we are exposed to.
However, some people get terribly ill due to COVID-19. As of this writing, there have been more than half a million deaths worldwide, and will be higher still when this is published.
As in the above answer, why some people get ill and die while others have no symptoms is a mystery, although we know some risk factors for becoming seriously ill, such as older age, being male and a history of high blood pressure or diabetes.
Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers can email questions to [email protected]
