infections
Polio
Prognosis for Polio
People who have abortive poliomyelitis or nonparalytic poliomyelitis recover completely. About two thirds of people who have paralytic poliomyelitis have some permanent weakness and a few (about 4 to 6%) die, depending on what nerves and muscles are affected. The death rate is higher (about 10 to 20%) in those few people in whom polio affects the nerves that control blood pressure and breathing. Some people, even those who apparently have recovered completely, develop a return or worsening of muscle weakness years or decades after an attack of polio (see Postpolio Syndrome ). 