Polio

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/polio

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific classification?Poliovirus, genus Enterovirus, family Picornaviridae
2. What is the transmission routes?Primarily fecal-oral; also respiratory droplets
3. What is polio and how can it make kids have trouble walking?Polio is a disease caused by a tiny virus called poliovirus. It can damage nerve cells that control muscles, making it hard to walk or even causing paralysis.
4. How does the polio virus spread from person to person?The virus mainly spreads when people touch something that has poop on it and then touch their mouth, or by breathing in droplets from a cough or sneeze.

Poliomyelitis: The disease caused by the poliovirus, characterized by potential paralysis.
Fecal-Oral Route: Transmission of a pathogen through ingestion of contaminated fecal matter.
Attenuated Virus: A weakened form of a virus used in vaccines that can still trigger an immune response.
Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus (VDPV): A rare strain of poliovirus that emerges from the weakened virus in the OPV.