Prevalence of residual paralysis from paralytic poliomyelitis in a rural population of Bangladesh

To estimate the prevalence of residual paralysis from poliomyelitis in children in one area of rural Bangladesh, a survey of the amount and original cause of lameness was undertaken. The International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh Matlab field area, which has been under demographic surveillance for 13 years, provided the study population of 25,000 children aged 5-14 years. The cause of the lameness identified for a child in the survey was based on criteria obtained from a health history questionnaire and a physical examination performed by a physician. The prevalence rate for residual paralysis of poliomyelitis estimated from the lameness survey was 0.84/1,000 children aged 5-14 years. Since lower extremity paralysis occurs in only about 80% of children with paralytic poliomyelitis, the prevalence rate for all cases of residual paralysis of poliomyelitis was calculated to be 1.05/1,000 children in this age group.