MODEL RELEASED. Spinal deformity due to polio. Image 1 of 2. Female patient with a severe spinal deformity. The spine curves sideways (scoliosis) and is hunched (kyphosis). This was caused by an infection with the polio virus. Infection with the polio virus can happen in unvaccinated children. The virus attacks the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord, and causes severe disability and paralysis and sometimes death. The treatment would involve surgery to correct the curvature, but it is usually done in the early stages of the spinal deformation. Photographed in Africa. For a view of this patient's kyphosis, from the side, see image M240/458.