List the three clinical manifestations of poliovirus infection and a key feature of each.

• A. Abortive poliomyelitis — abdominal pain; Nonparalytic poliomyelitis — facial palsy; Paralytic poliomyelitis — chronic fatigue.
• B. Abortive poliomyelitis — nonspecific febrile illness; Nonparalytic poliomyelitis — aseptic meningitis symptoms with no paralysis; Paralytic poliomyelitis — acute flaccid paralysis.
• C. Abortive poliomyelitis — paralysis; Nonparalytic poliomyelitis — meningitis; Paralytic poliomyelitis — asymptomatic.
• D. Abortive poliomyelitis — pneumonia; Nonparalytic poliomyelitis — rash; Paralytic poliomyelitis — seizures.

Answer: (B)

Poliovirus infection presents along a spectrum from mild illness to meningitis to paralytic disease, with distinct clinical pictures that help identify each form.

Abortive poliomyelitis shows up as a nonspecific febrile illness—fever, malaise, possibly sore throat or minor GI symptoms—without involvement of the nervous system, so there is no paralysis.

Nonparalytic poliomyelitis presents with signs of aseptic meningitis, such as headache and fever with neck stiffness, but no paralysis occurs.

Paralytic poliomyelitis features acute flaccid paralysis, usually asymmetric, reflecting motor neuron involvement in the spinal cord or brainstem, and is the severe end of the spectrum.

Other symptom combinations like abdominal pain or facial palsy, or non-neurologic features such as pneumonia, rash, or seizures, don’t capture the characteristic progression and key distinctions of the three poliovirus clinical forms.