The Polio Vaccine free essay sample

The Polio epidemic happened, each of the 48 states at the time had rampant cases of Polio. The un-curable disease had taken over America. Poliomyelitis is an infectious viral disease that attacks the nerve cells and sometimes the central nervous system; it is caused by the destruction of nerve cells in the spinal cord. Polio often causes muscle wasting, paralysis, and even death. 1 In surveys of what Americans feared most, Polio came in second to the Atomic Bomb. Children were the main target of Polio and until Dr. Jonas Salk’s Polio Vaccine that became available in 1952, there was no cure for the disease Polio was often called infantile paralysis because the majority of the infected were elementary school children. â€Å"It must have been profoundly difficult in that first quarter-century of polio. How helpless parents must have felt to know that there was this killer that could come each summer, and that nothing they could do could safeguard their children. We will write a custom essay sample on The Polio Vaccine or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Every sniffle, every cold, every muscle cramp, every temper tantrum that a child exhibited in the long, hot days of summer and early autumn were potential symptoms of polio. How long could a family show good spirits in front of a child confined to an iron lung, or later, during the two or more years a child might spend in rehabilitative therapy. † This quote is really significant in the fear that polio had over people. Every parent had no way to defend their kids from the disease. Sending children to school was extremely difficult because many schools were shut down from massive outbreaks of polio. Not only schools but also every other public place; restaurants, grocery store, movie theaters, etc. No one would leave the comfort of their own home, and even then they weren’t safe from Polio, they were just safer there than anywhere else. 2 A very notable case of Polio was Franklin D. Roosevelt. Even though it was children who were especially vulnerable, Adults could catch the disease as well. In 1921, FDR had contracted Polio and he became paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. Later on in 1937, Roosevelt advocated for The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Roosevelt’s foundation established The March of Dimes that helped to fund money to find a cure and resist the disease. March of Dimes was really successful in raising money to help fight against the disease. 3 Polio quickly moved from city to city taking no pity on any of its victims. The disease got stronger among the nation. It became surreal-like as demonstrated by this quote by Richard Aldrich M. D. , â€Å"The first summer when I was home in Minnesota was that gosh-awful polio epidemic they had there. We admitted 464 proven cases of polio just at the University Hospital, which is unbelievable. And this was a very severe paralytic form. Maybe two or three hours after a lot of these kids would come in with a stiff neck or a fever, theyd be dead. It was unbelievable. It was just loads of people that came in, sometimes with only a fever but usually a headache and a little stiffness in the neck. And just absolutely terrified. At the height of the epidemic, the people in Minneapolis were so frightened that there was nobody in the restaurants. There was practically no traffic, the stores were empty. It just was considered a feat of bravado almost to go out and mingle in public. A lot of people just took up and moved away, went to another city. †4 What really frustrated people is that there really wasn’t anything they could do. As previously stated, Hospitals were pass there limit of people that could be emitted into the hospital. They couldn’t just turn them away, so they took in everyone who came through the door. This was problematic because the Doctor-Patient ratio was very unbalanced. Not everyone was able to get attention right away and within a couple hours, the disease completely overtook them and they were dead. Every year more and more cases of paralytic polio were occurring. In 1933 there were only 5000 cases and ten years later in 1943, the number of cases was more than double with 12,000 cases. In 1950 there was 33,000 cases. Polio seemed to be moving north to east. Polio shifted from the eastern side of North America and began making its way across the entire United States. Then in 1952 the Polio Epidemic occurred with 59,000 proven cases of paralytic polio. 5 By then, polio epidemics were second only to the atomic bomb in surveys of what Americans feared most. Bomb and virus alike were terrible agents of destruction that might arrive at any moment to devastate a family, a community, or an entire nation. The disease seemed like an omnipresent threat, and its cure became a national responsibility. Epidemics struck other countries, but never as heavily as here. America was the center of polio, and the place where people knew they must work first, and fastest, to end it. They gave their time and money to help the growing swell of victims and to find a way to stem the rising tide of injury. When the call came, they even volunteered their children, millions of them, to test a new vaccine. The fear that had once driven Americans apart was now the force that pulled them together. This quote defines the 1952 Polio Epidemic and the strong fear that Americans had. The worst hit areas to date were Texas, Iowa, Ohio, Nebraska, and the worst were in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusets. 7 The Most significant figure during this time was Dr. Jonas Salk. Jonas Salk was born October 28, 1914 in New York City. He was the eldest son of Russian immigrant parents. His parents, like many immigrants of the time, were uneducated, but determined that their sons should have formal educations and achieve American success. Salk attended Townsend Harris High School, one of the finest public high schools in New York. He became the first member of his family to go to college. As a medical student and later a researcher at the University of Michigan, Salk studied viruses, such as influenza, and ways to vaccinate against them. In 1947, Salk became head of the Virus Research Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. He began investigating the polio virus. 8 On July 2, 1952, Salk tried a refined vaccine on children whod already had polio and recovered. After the vaccination, their antibodies increased. He then tried it on volunteers who had not had polio, including himself, his wife, and their children. The volunteers all produced antibodies, and none received polio. One of the newest and most hopeful weapons in the fight against polio is a blood fraction called gamma globulin. It is a rich storehouse of the disease fighting antibodies. Also, injections of this would reduce measles in children. There has been evidence that gamma globulin could also destroy polio before it reaches the nervous system, disrupting its paralyzing effects. 6 In 1953, Salk reported his findings in The Journal of the American Medical Association. A nationwide testing of the vaccine was launched in April 1954 with the mass inoculation of school children. Before the polio vaccine, 13,000 to 20,000 people were paralyzed by polio. About 1,000 people died from it each year in the United States alone. The results of Salk’s vaccine were a 60 -70 percent prevention of Polio. The public was ecstatic with Salk’s marvelous creation. It was the gift that the American Public waited for years and years to get. Because of the Vaccine, Many universities awarded Salk honorary degrees, he was given a Congressional Gold Medal, and France made him a member of the Legion of Honor. â€Å"Fifty years ago, on April 12, 1955, the world heard one of the most eagerly anticipated announcements in medical history: Dr. Jonas Salks polio vaccine worked. The vaccine turned a disease that once horrified America into a memory. † There was one incident that took place with Salk’s vaccine that put American’s hope in the dumpsters. About 200 cases of the disease were caused by Salk’s vaccine and 11 people died. All testing was halted because the American people didn’t feel safe anymore. Investigators found that the disease-causing vaccine all came from one poorly made batch at one drug-company. This resulted in higher production standards that were adopted and vaccinations resumed. By August of 1955 four million vaccinations were given and the impact was dramatic. In 1955, there were 28,985 cases of polio. In 1956, there were 14,647 cases. In 1957, there were 5,894 cases. The number of cases kept declining with the number of vaccinations given, and by 1959, 90 other countries used Salks vaccine. Although the last known case of polio in the Western hemisphere was reported in 1991 and there has not been a case in Western Asia since 1997, polio is still rampant in South Asia, West Africa, and Central Africa. Approximately 5,000 cases are diagnosed each year. Although that represents a 90% decrease in just the last ten years.