Incidence of Poliomyelitis in Pregnancy

Abstract

PREGNANCY has long been considered one of the host factors disposing to the occurrence of poliomyelitis. An increase in susceptibility has been observed in animal studies, clinical case reports and surveys of both hospitalized cases and population groups.^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17} Currently, however, the validity of an association between pregnancy and poliomyelitis has been questioned as a result of recent investigations of population groups in which no significant increase in incidence and mortality could be demonstrated.^{5 , 13} Because of the conflicting evidence and the need for additional data on a community-wide basis, the susceptibility of the host during pregnancy was investigated. Three aspects of . . .