PARKERSBURG - Twenty years after forming, the local Polio Support Group continues to gain new members and encourage education.

The polio epidemic slowed almost to a stop in the United States after a vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was introduced in 1955.

While the illness disappeared, post-polio syndrome has been discovered in 100 percent of polio victims, said Dr. Michael Shramowiat.

The syndrome usually begins to show itself about 20 years after the illness. The group is for post-polio syndrome victims and their families.

"Everyone with a history of polio should join," Shramowiat said.

In 1993, shortly after moving to the area, Becky White of Vienna approached Shramowiat about starting a polio support group.

"I was told a new doctor in the area had some experience treating the disease," White said.

White had polio when she was about 6 months old in May 1953. She was in the hospital for 19 months before returning home with two leg braces and crutches that she used until she was in the third grade.

"They thought after the vaccine came out that there would be no more polio," she said.

Danette Stoneking, 28, of Mineral Wells is one of the newest and youngest members of the Polio Support Group. She was born with a dislocated hip and put in a body cast. The pediatrician said he did not want her to have vaccines until she was out of the body cast.

"He never told my mother to keep me away from babies that had their vaccinations," Stoneking said. When she was about 6 months old, her aunt brought over Stoneking's younger cousin.

"He had had his vaccinations that day, I think," she said. "The next morning, I was sick - vomiting, a fever, and I wasn't using my legs."

Stoneking said the local doctors did not know what was wrong because they thought polio was eradicated. She was taken to a children's hospital to be diagnosed.

Stoneking started treatment at Shriner Children's Hospital in Kentucky when she was 3. She went to the hospital about once a year until she was 18.

Shramowiat said many doctors don't know the symptoms of the illness or the syndrome and do not know how to properly treat the syndrome.

"The main thing is to do as much as you can without getting fatigued," he said.

Polio causes muscle-building cells to be damaged and destroyed. The deterioration of the cells stops when the illness is overcome, but after using muscles, the cells start to break down again until the cells are destroyed.

"We encourage anyone who has had polio in the past to see someone to be evaluated," Shramowiat said. Everyone who has had polio will have post-polio syndrome.

One morning in 1983, White said she felt post-polio syndrome.

"I just woke up one morning and my muscular system - I had so much pain and fatigue," she said. Eventually, the destruction of her muscle-building cells caused her to leave her job as an interpreter for the deaf in the Wood County school system.

"There is no cure for post-polio syndrome. (Treatment is) slowing down and making changes in your life," White said.

Stoneking said she has needed to use a cane more often recently, but she tries to work her muscles as much as she can.

"I think (having polio) has made me a lot stronger and have an empathy for what other people go through," she said.

She discovered the support group online about a year ago.

"I believe it has helped me. I know a lot more than I did when I started going" to the group, Stoneking said. "Knowing there are people out there going through the same thing. I have good days and bad days. I live a fairly normal life."

White said about 25 members are in the support group. The group meets the second Monday of each month at Health South.

Shramowiat said there are about 100 people in the region that have had polio. Most of the cases today usually occur in Third World countries, he said.

For more information about polio or post-polio syndrome, visit www.post-polio.org. For more information about the support group, call White at (304) 295-5879 or Stoneking at (304) 488-6230.