Poliomyelitis is also known as child paralysis. Polio is caused by a virus.
The virus is transmitted from person to person through contaminated food, infected faeces or contaminated water or through small droplets in the air. The infection can lead to paralysis.
Before the vaccination was introduced in 1957, polio occurred often and people regularly died from the disease. The last polio epidemic took place in 1992/1993 among unvaccinated people.