Acute flaccid paralysis: a misdiagnosis of poliomyelitis

When the goal of eradication of poliomyelitis was set in 1988, the need for active surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) became necessary. This has led to the realisation that although the number of polio endemic countries decreased from 125 in 1988 to 6 in 2004, Nigeria is still one of the high transmission areas for the wild virus. The objective of this paper was to review the need for acute flaccid paralysis surveillance by presenting two cases.

The case records of two children treated at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in 2006 with acute onset of flaccid paralysis were retrieved for presentation.

Two girls aged 6 years and 13 years presented with sudden onset of flaccid paralysis for which the clinical diagnoses included poliomyelitis. Their stool specimens taken within 2 weeks of onset of symptoms showed no poliovirus. They initially deteriorated clinically but recovered with little or no residual paralysis.

The need to rule out causes other than polio in all acutely paralysed children is hereby highlighted. All polio eradication strategies should continue to be effectively implemented if we must attain the goal of polio eradication.