Post Polio Network Manitoba, Inc.

Who We Are

Because few doctors and persons in the health care professions experienced the polio epidemics of the past, it is difficult for polio survivors to find health care professionals who understand polio and its after-effects. Many patients are misdiagnosed, told they have multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia or depression. Some are simply told "It's all in your head". Dr. Richard Bruno, director of the Post-Polio program at New Jersy's Englewood Hospital, figures that at least one million North Americans have had non-paralytic polio and the number could be as high as 6 million. "Doctors must remember that the symptoms of polio survivors today depend not on a diagnosis given 40 - 50 years ago but on how many neurons were killed by the polio virus in any given area of the spinal column and brain."

This is the reason for the Manitoba Post-Polio group.

What is Post-Polio Syndrome?

PPS are unexpected and often disabling symptoms - overwhelming fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain, sleep disorders, heightened sensitivity to anesthesia, cold intolerance and pain and difficulty swallowing and breathing - that occur in 75% of paralytic and 40% of non-paralytic polio survivors about 35 years after the polio virus attack.

Our Services/Activities

To educate survivors who were paralyzed and those affected but not paralyzed (non-paralytic) and medical professionals.
This is also the reason for setting up the National Post-Polio Association; to establish a public awareness campaign about Post-Polio Syndrome (PPS).

Contact Us

Post Polio Network Inc.
204 - 825 Sherbrook Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3A 1M5
Phone: (204) 975-3037
Fax: (204) 975-3027

E-Mail: postpolionetwork@shaw.ca

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