My cousin living in lucknow has been suffering from paralytic polio?

Question

My cousin living in lucknow has been suffering from paralytic polio
since
she was 2 yrs old. She is now 19years of age. About a fortnight ago,
she
has been suffering from severe cold and congestion of sputem on the
lungs.
She is complaining of rigorous pain in the whole body, due to which she is unable to move, eat, drink or perform any other activities. Our family doctor have not recommended any medicine for her condition. He said that there is no known medicine for her illness, rather he has recommended a few homeopathic pills to reduce fever but the medicine has not been able to decrease the high temperature. We have tried several paracetamols but nothing seems to work.

A detailed MRI was also performed on her body few days ago, which showed that her right side of the body is completely under paralysis. I would like to know whether this illness is really incurable or are there any tablets (allopathic) that can be prescribed for her.

Answer 1

i am so sorry to hear that.. please ask your question to one of the online doctors websites such as NDTV doctors.. I pray to Allah that may she gets well soon...

Answer 2

Since the advent of polio vaccine, polio is extremely rare in civilized countries. Did your cousin acquire it in a Third World country, or was her polio an adverse event from the oral polio vaccine? Since it is now so rare in developed countries, there are few physicians with experience in treating it. There are also a number of neurological diseases, both inherited and acquired, that can be sometimes confused with polio.

If her muscles of respiration (diaphragm, rib muscles, etc.) are affected, any chest infection is a potential danger, as it is difficult for them to cough and spit up secretions that build up in the bronchial tubes. Vigorous measures of physical therapy and suctioning may be required. If she has high fever, she may likely have a severe pneumonia or other infection. Sounds as though she needs some strong antibiotics as well, not homeopathic nostrums.

Muscle pain and increased weakness is part of the post-polio syndrome. But generally it affects adults 30 - 40 years after the initial bout of polio.

See if your cousin's doctor will refer her to an infectious disease specialist and/or a pulmonologist.

Answer 3

I can only assume that you are saying your cousin is in Lucknow India, is this correct?
It also sounds like she never recovered from polio, is this correct?
If so there are not many doctors in the third world countires that know how to deal with polio or post polio. One thing that must be remembered is "not all things are related to polio".
From working with post polio and having just met with leaders from 9 other countries I have come to unerstand that many in third world countries are still suffering from polio and the after affects. I am sorry that your cousin is one of them.
It sounds like your cousin has probably developed a respiratory infection of some sort. Being paralyzed on one side will hinder her ability to cough up sputem and clear the lungs.
I would highly recommend she get to a doctor who can check to see if she indeed does have a respiratory infection or perhaps pneumonia. It sounds like she does indeed need to be treated for for the actual infection she is dealing with. As was previously stated I would guess that an antibiotic is needed and a good respiratory doctor to help her with getting the sputem up.

Please feel free to write for further help as your cousin sounds like she really needs to get to a medical doctor as soon as possible.

You are a great friend as well as cousin!

Let me know if we can be of help to you in any way.

Sincerely,
Shari Fiksdal
[e-mail]