Polio: The Disease that Paralyzed the World

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Source/Further reading:

“The Polio Crusade” American Experience, PBS (Documentary)

[DigitalLazarus]

My papa fell victim in the 50s when he was 17. Fever burned his memories and he was in an iron lung for months. Finally was able to use leg braces and crutches to walk, until he had no choice but to resort to the wheelchair. He was a giant of a man and lived to be 83. Papa considered himself lucky to live so long as the rest of his family succumbed to cancer and pre-deceased him. I miss papa.

[TheQuickSilver]

It's mind blowing to think that polio was once so prevalent. I feel fortunate to have been born after diseases like polio and small pox were no longer a problem in the west.

[susantempleton]

When the Salk vaccine became available, my mother, a nurse, helped with vaccination at my grade school, so I spent the day in the school gym while my schoolmates were vaccinated. I can still remember the palpable relief of the parents who brought their children in. There was at least one child in each grade already crippled by polio.

[ryproar]

My grandmother had a sister who died from polio. She showed me her scar from her vaccine but she said to me "I have this scar so you won't have to have polio. Trust me when I say a scar is nothing compared to polio. I would have a scar over that anytime."
She was a nurse for 35 years and worked in nursing homes. Now she just helps out for free

[Dfoto]

There’s another aftermath that nobody talks about and it’s called post polio syndrome and it attacks the muscles that haven’t been attacked by the original polio. My mother had polio at age 2 and at age 65 she started the symptoms post polio

[berryberrykixx]

My mother has a friend who had polio as a child. It hit her hard, and she had to go into one of those iron lungs. Thankfully, as she recovered, she got her ability to breathe on her own back (although, to this day, she does have emergency oxygen just in case). The lasting effects were much like FDR's; she wore braces on her legs and she used a wheelchair, but in time she taught herself to "walk" with crutches (the kind that are bent and a person leans into them, providing support from her hands up to her elbows). Her parents called her "that sick kid" and other things, told her she'd never amount to anything now, and eventually they handed their rights over to her Uncle. He was already a retiree at that point, a former Ohio State Highway Patrol officer. As she told us, once her parents had left, she looked him in the eye and said "Please help me be someone in my life". So he did. He worked with her daily to build up muscle that she could control, and worked on keeping the muscle she couldn't control from deterioration (as he supposedly told her, "You can't wear braces if you have no legs to attach them to!" Once she turned 18, he told her that although his home would always be hers if she needs it, he won't allow her to remain idle unless something drastic happens and she has no choice. She worked random jobs here and there while she applied and reapplied and reapplied to go into the Law Enforcement program at the local community college. She finally broke down and threatened a lawsuit, and she was admitted. She graduated in the top 10% of the class. Then she fought like hell to get someone to hire her but it turned out to be even more difficult. One morning, she was up at our neighborhood diner complaining to her friend from her class about her inability to convince anyone to give her a chance. He was blunt with her. He told her she already had two strikes against her; her gender, and her disability. Well, the chief of Police for a neighboring police department overheard that, got up, and told that kid to move over. He basically interviewed her right there on the spot. He told her flat out that he was not looking for new officers, but he needed a good, organized dispatcher ASAP. She took it.
Years later, we were driving past her police department and a tire blew out on my mom's car. She eased it into the parking lot and told me to go inside and ask if anyone there could help out. The only two people in the building was her and the chief. Instead of asking the chief to help us, she routed incoming calls to him and she came out to help herself. The rest, you can say, is history. She just retired last year, at the age of 68, but she isn't stopping anytime soon. She still volunteers at the Children's Hospital and probably will until the day she leaves us.

[bethg.]

My dad had polio as a child, he just celebrated his 72 birthday. He recovered but now there are long term side effects showing up in surviving seniors. Not many people know about that. I greatly enjoy your programs, thank you.

[sameenrizvi]

I'm a Pakistani and dear God every year our health officials try harder and harder to get the vaccine to as many remote areas as possible.. But people are difficult, we need to get past their mindset before getting to their children sadly...

[RBEO]

"What did people do BEFORE vaccines?!"

"They died, Karen. People died."

[manus.]

I remember receiving the Sabin vaccine (oral, on a sugar cube) back in elementary school.
Fever grateful to my parents for diligently vaccinating their children and fostering a love for learning and science.
Oh, also, about not patenting the vaccine, Jonas Salk said "There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?"
Gosh <3

[grahamt]

Dr Salk should have been given a Nobel prize - what a great man !

[TheGelasiaBlythe]

The March of Dimes was actually named by Eddie Cantor. Everyday people had been asked to send whatever tiny amounts of money they could - even just a dime. Eddie Cantor said that it was a wonderful thing, this "March of Dimes, " making a play on words of a popular news show played at movie theaters before the main film called The March of Time. The March of Dimes stuck, and did good work.

[sandybarnes]

My friend Phil had polio as a kid in 60s. He had to wear heavy awkward leg braces for years. Luckily he recovered and can walk.

[TheRumzer]

I knew FDR was going to come up, thank you for mentioning Guillain Barré syndrome. I’m a 2 time survivor of Guillain Barré syndrome (GBS) and the first time I was paralyzed to the waist, the second time to the jaw. After a collective 14 months in the hospital, I was no longer paralyzed but still very weak. I’m still recovering years later.

[rayraudebaugh]

I had an aunt that died from it and a cousin who managed to survive and almost, but not quite completely recover. Thank you Jonas Salk. You saved millions of lives and countless people from suffering its crippling effects.

[dlarsh]

I remember stories from my parents and grandparents about the horrors of polio, an I can't possibly convey how grateful I am to have grown up in the post-vaccine world. The efforts of Salk and others who made this possible are truly among the greatest endeavors ever undertaken by mankind.

[jenniferlawrence]

I remember reading the head line in the newspaper
That said they had a vaccine for polio. I cried with relief. We had to stay home and have no contact with others in the summer if polio was in our city. For a child it was terrifying. Because we knew children were the ones to get it. I wonder if the people against vaccines really think what it means to live with that threat?

[lunartears]

My grandfather had polio when he was a teenager. This was a few years before the vaccine was invented and available to the public (somewhere in the 1950’s). Sadly, he is no longer with us, he passed away around 2007 from Leukemia. According to my grandmother, he had the worst strain at the time, and was on one of the first iron-lung machines. She said that he started to suffer from it after he swam in a nearby lake in Arkansas, where he grew up. She also mentioned that other people got sick with it to around the same time after swimming in the lake.

He survived it without the need to live off a machine for the remainder of his life, and appeared to have made a full recovery. He was very active in his job, as he was a fireman. However, I’m almost certain that he had something called Post-Polio Syndrome. He had increased difficulty with walking and simple movements in the last 20 years of his life.

[eeklynlad]

I had polio in 1962 at the age of four. Now at the age of 62 I still have to wear a leg brace on my left leg. I had the vaccine, but I was one of the few that still contracted the disease. I went to public schools and grew up with the "normal" kids. What doesn't kill you makes you strong. I still work and am a branch manager of a company. God only knows how far I might have made it if I hadn't had polio. I never let it hold me back, but I know I have limitations. I recently lost my wife, but I know I'll see her again soon. The only woman that ever understood me. Peace

[judybaird]

My chemistry teacher had polio when he was younger and was disabled because of it. He told us what it was like growing up with it and why vaccines were important. He is the reason I will never be an against vaccines. Also my nursing school classes has helped me to see the importance of vaccines.