The polio vaccine was found to be safe and effective 60 years ago, making Jonas Salk the best-known of all researchers developing immunizations. At the time the results were announced in 1955, the public erupted in celebration across the nation.
Polio once ran rampant across the United States, resulting in thousands of children becoming sick, many of whom died from the disease. These outbreaks occurred every summer, resulting in the closure of movie theaters, pools, and other areas where the public congregated. Around 58,000 children became ill with the disease in 1952 alone, the worst year of the disease.
The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, better known as the March of Dimes, funded the international team of researchers that developed the vaccine. That group of researchers was led by the physician Jonas Salk.
Investigation of the vaccine involved testing on over 1.8 million children. Just days after the announcement was made that immunizations were safe and effective, vaccination programs were started around the nation.
"The world learned today that its hopes for finding an effective weapon against paralytic polio had been realized," the New York Times reported on April 13, 1955.
Salk developed an injectible form of the vaccine, and a few years later, an oral version of the medicine was created by Albert Sabin.
Today, polio remains a serious health problem in just a handful of nations around the world. However, in areas where the disease is still affecting children, the illness has proven to be difficult to eradicate. A recent outbreak of the disease took place in Nigeria during 2009. As members of the public in that nation began to oppose the idea of the vaccine, the disease was again seen in areas where it was once nearly eliminated.
"We've had to deal with opinions about the vaccine causing sterility or causing HIV, and those become formidable to work out. Setbacks are disheartening, but we have learned to deal with them. There are times, like now in Pakistan, with the difficulty of getting immunization into some areas, and with groups taking it to the point of killing immunization teams. It's a major concern," Dr. John Sever, an early researcher on the issue who personally knew both Salk and Sabin, said.
There is still no cure for polio. The disease is brought about by a virus, and people can fall ill just hours after becoming infected. The virus is taken in through the mouth, and is mainly spread through contact with human feces. The highly contagious virus also can be spread by contaminated food or water or direct contact with another infected person. Although the illness mainly strikes children under the age of five, even adults can be still be susceptible to the disease. Symptoms include fever, back and neck pain and stiffness, sore throat, vomiting, and stiffness in arms and legs. There are three kinds of polio; two kinds, sub-clinical and non-paralytic, cause few symptoms and do not cause paralysis; the third kind, paralytic polio, can cause full or partial paralysis. Doctors treat symptoms till the infection runs its course.
Although polio is not yet completely eliminated worldwide, many researchers hope to eradicate the disease by the year 2018.
Photo: RIBI Image Library | Flickr
