Polio is a disease caused by the poliovirus. The virus can infect the spinal cord and cause permanent paralysis or even death. Polio is preventable only by immunisation.
There is no cure for polio.
Approximately 75% of people who are infected with polio will not experience any symptoms and will not know they are contagious.
For every case of paralysis, between 100 and 1,000 people have been infected.
There are now thousands of children under 10 who are at risk in the UK because they are not up to date with their routine vaccines.
Read more at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/polio-booster-campaign-resources/polio-is-spreading-text-version
