Vaccination to combat renewed polio threat

Doreen Chandler now uses a power chair. Picture / Kenny Rodger

Doreen Chandler was 27 and 2 months pregnant when she contracted polio.

She lost the baby, just six weeks shy of being vaccinated.

But compared with other New Zealanders - mainly children and teenagers - who had contracted poliomyelitis during the 1950s and early 1960s, she was "lucky".

"I was fully grown. I had my life sorted, you know," said the 74-year-old.

By "sorted" she meant her two children, born before the virus attack.

She would walk again, but only with the aid of calipers and crutches. But at 60, she found herself using a wheelchair more and more frequently. Today, she relies completely on a power chair.

"The legs just decided that they'd done enough."

The recurrence of polio's symptoms decades after the initial attack is often a surprise, said Mrs Chandler.

And with the epidemic at its peak in the 50s and early 60s, health experts believe more and more people will begin presenting with post-polio syndrome.

The condition occurs, on average, 40 years after poliomyelitis. Its cause is not known, but is believed to be related to the ageing or death of nerves and muscles that were compensating for the original damage.

New Zealand was declared polio free in 2000, but health authorities are on alert for an epidemic again, after a resurgence in cases worldwide. Indonesia reported 349 cases last year, after a decade of having none.

With the 50th anniversary of the Salk vaccine's introduction to the country this month, immunisation experts say it is timely for people to be reminded of polio's impact in the 1950s.

Natalie Desmond, national adviser at the Immunisation Advisory Centre, said it was important for parents to get their children vaccinated. The view is echoed by Mrs Chandler, who is president of the Auckland Post Polio Support Group.

"People do have to realise that polio is a very disruptive disease for any young child."

Her group has 200 members, and more seem to have joined in recent years.

"It's certainly taking its toll on those that are coming into their 50s and 60s."

There are up to 5000 polio survivors in New Zealand, and about 1000 of those with post-polio syndrome belong to the national body, the Post-Polio Support Society.

President Ray Wilson said some GPs tend to dismiss the symptoms as a sign of ageing.

"We know that we're getting older.

"We know that age is going to be a factor, but age is not the only factor. Polio is not being recognised for what it is."


Low down on syndrome

* Condition that affects polio survivors years after recovery from an initial attack of the poliomyelitis virus.
* Mainly characterised by the new weakening of muscles that were previously affected.
* Muscles previously thought to be unaffected may also suffer fatigue.
* Patients hit hard initially may develop a more severe case of the syndrome than those with minimal symptoms from the original illness.