Acute paralytic poliomyelitis presenting as Guillain-Barré syndrome.

The initial clinical picture and CSF changes in four children with acute ascending paralysis simulated Guillain-Barré syndrome. However, diagnosis of poliomyelitis was confirmed on the basis of isolation of wild poliovirus type I and high neutralising antibody to it. The four children had received primary vaccination with live attenuated oral poliomyelitis vaccine. It is postulated that the clinical course of paralytic poliomyelitis may be altered in children who have previously been vaccinated with live oral vaccine.