Post-polio syndrome: historical perspective, epidemiology and clinical presentation

Paralytic poliomyelitis has plagued mankind for centuries. The incidence of acute paralytic poliomyelitis dramatically declined in 1955 only after the introduction of the inactivated polio vaccine. Post-Polio Syndrome (PPS) was described as early as the 1870s, but was not clearly recognized by the medical community until the early 1980s. This article reviews the history and epidemiology of acute paralytic poliomyelitis, as well as post-polio syndrome, from its early description by Charcot and others in 1875, to the modern roots of PPS research in 1954. Finally, we will describe the presenting features of PPS, in both clinical and population studies which represent two very different 'faces' of post-polio.