Abstract
BackgroundA large poliomyelitis outbreak occurred in 2010 in the Republic of Congo. This paper describes the demographic and clinical characteristics of poliomyelitis cases and their outcomes following physiotherapy.FindingsDemographic and clinical data were collected on 126 individuals between November 23, 2010 and March 23, 2011. The male/female ratio was 2.5 and the median age was 19 years (IQR: 13.5-23). The most severe forms of the disease were more common in older patients, 81 of the 126 patients (64.3%) had multiple evaluations of muscle strength. Among patients with multiple evaluations, 38.1% had improved strength at final evaluation, 48.3% were stable and 13.6% had decreased strength.ConclusionsMost acute poliomyelitis patients receiving physiotherapy had improved or stable muscle strength at their final evaluation. These descriptive results highlight the need for further research into the potential benefits of physiotherapy in polio affected patients.
Highlights
A large poliomyelitis outbreak occurred in 2010 in the Republic of Congo
Most acute poliomyelitis patients receiving physiotherapy had improved or stable muscle strength at their final evaluation. These descriptive results highlight the need for further research into the potential benefits of physiotherapy in polio affected patients
The outbreak started with an unusual accumulation of cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in September and October 2010 in Pointe Noire, the second largest city in the country and the main commercial centre
Summary
A large poliomyelitis outbreak occurred in 2010 in the Republic of Congo. After 10 years with no detected wild poliovirus transmission in the Republic of Congo [1], a large outbreak of poliomyelitis occurred in 2010. The outbreak started with an unusual accumulation of cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in September and October 2010 in Pointe Noire, the second largest city in the country and the main commercial centre. An AFP case was considered as clinically confirmed polio if it occurred in a person with a strong likelihood of having poliomyelitis based on clinical presentation, in a person with residual paralysis at least 60 days after onset and in a person who lived in a province which had at least 1 confirmed laboratory case of polio
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