Here's what it looks like in a section of the spinal cord:
This is a slide of acute inflammation affecting both the cord and meninges. Blood vessels are conspicuously dilated with characteristic perivascular cuffing of leukocytes. Dead motor neurones of the anterior horns are replaced by clusters of neutrophil polymorphs and macrophages.
Salient features include: perviascular lymphocytic infiltration, neuronal degeneration, prominent collections of glial cells around areas of the nerve cell degeneration or necrosis and some scattered hemorrhagic foci.
The Philippines has already been considered polio free. During the 90's there was aggressive implementation of the EPI (expanded program on immunization), a component of which is OPV (Oral polio vaccine). OPV is still used in the barangay health centers today though the American Academy of Pediatricians no longer recommend this type of vaccine and this vaccine is no longer available in American soil. What they do have and recommend is IPV (inactivated polio vaccine). The OPV used in the barangay health centers actually can cause polio albeit the risk is extremely low, one in 2.4 million. Private practitioners have abandoned OPV and switched to IPV since IPV does not cause polio. Experts believe that using oral polio vaccine is no longer worth the slight risk, except in limited circumstances. Still, OPV is useful for mass immunization and it has helped our country get rid of the disease.
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