poliomyelitis

American  

[poh-lee-oh-mahy-uh-lahy-tis] / ˌpoʊ li oʊˌmaɪ əˈlaɪ tɪs /

noun

Pathology.

1. an acute viral disease, usually affecting children and young adults, caused by any of three polioviruses, characterized by inflammation of the motor neurons of the brain stem and spinal cord, and resulting in a motor paralysis, followed by muscular atrophy and often permanent deformities.

---

poliomyelitis British  

/ ˌpəʊlɪəʊˌmaɪəˈlaɪtɪs /

noun

1. Also called: infantile paralysis.  Often shortened to: polio.  an acute infectious viral disease, esp affecting children. In its paralytic form ( acute anterior poliomyelitis ) the brain and spinal cord are involved, causing weakness, paralysis, and wasting of muscle

---

poliomyelitis Scientific  

/ pō′lē-ō-mī′ə-lī′tĭs /

1. A highly communicable infectious disease caused by the poliovirus of the genus Enterovirus that causes inflammation of motor neurons of the spinal cord and brainstem, leading to paralysis, muscular atrophy, and often disability and deformity. Childhood vaccinations are given to prevent infection.

2. Also called polio

---

poliomyelitis Cultural  

1. An acute disease, and an infectious disease, caused by a virus, that brings about inflammation of certain nerve cells in the spinal cord. It can have a wide range of effects, from mild to severe, including paralysis, permanent disability, and death. In the United States, the disease has now largely vanished since the development of a vaccine against it. (See Sabin vaccine and Salk vaccine.)

---

Discover More

President Franklin D. Roosevelt suffered from poliomyelitis. During his presidency, he could not walk unaided.

The history of polio, which went from a major public health problem to a minor one in a short time, is often used as an example of the benefits of medical research.

Other Word Forms

• poliomyelitic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of poliomyelitis

1875–80; < New Latin < Greek polió ( s ) gray + New Latin myelitis myelitis

Example Sentences

Other vaccine-preventable diseases would also probably pop up in the coming quarter-century — 190 cases of rubella, 18 of poliomyelitis, eight of diphtheria, according to the Stanford team’s models.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2025

The weakened, OPV viruses can mutate and regain their ability to cause paralysis — what's called vaccine-derived poliomyelitis.

From Salon • Sep. 20, 2022

The weakened, OPV viruses can mutate and regain their ability to cause paralysis — what’s called vaccine-derived poliomyelitis.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 19, 2022

Polio, also known as poliomyelitis, is a sometimes disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus.

From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2022

It is what physicians used to be engaged in at the bedside of patients with diphtheria, meningitis, poliomyelitis, lobar pneumonia, and all the rest of the infectious diseases that have since come under control.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas