Imagine a fatal disease that you could not see, touch, cure, or hear. This deadliest disease is known as the polio virus. The polio virus causes paralysis of the arms, legs, and chest muscles. The disease used to be called “infantile paralysis”, because it was most common in children. Many could no longer walk again without the use of leg braces. Others could not breathe without the help of machines. This disease caused terror all over the world. People couldn’t figure out how it came about, who the victims would be, or how to cure it. Today, polio does not exist because of the incredible discovery of the polio vaccine. Jonas Salk freed the world from the deadly disease and the fear that encompassed it.
During the summer of 1916, a polio epidemic had impacted the United States. Health officials believed it was caused by crowds, but there was no definite answer. Polio is said to be caused by a virus. Viruses can cause illnesses
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At the age of 30, he wanted his own lab so he could research in his own time. He especially wanted to study the immune system. Many scientists continued to research bacteria. Scientists decided that there was something missing that caused the diseases due to non visible bacteria. With research still on Jonas’s mind, he left Michigan for the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. He received an offer from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis to take part in the research program. The foundation is involved in the treatment of polio victims. Scientists have battled with the discovery of polio for a very long time. “In the two years before the vaccine was widely available, the average number of polio cases in the U.S. was more than 45,000. By 1962, that number had dropped to 910” (Salk Institute). Hospitals were filling up with 27,000 people affected, and many more disabled. Medications including penicillin, and other antibiotics had no effect on
Salk’s research led him to create a vaccine different from any other by using 3 different kind of killed polio virus. In an article it says,”Using formaldehyde, Salk killed the poliovirus, but kept it intact enough to trigger the necessary immune response”(Salk’s institute 1). Salk 's decision to create a vaccine out of inactivated virus was not the strongest protector, but was made strong enough to cure and lower the risk of infection within patients. It was one of the first times someone attempted to take a completely opposite approach than what scientist thought was best. As he said in an interview, “ ‘The principle I was trying to establish was that it was not necessary to run the risk of infection, which would have been the case if one were to try to develop an attenuated or weekend polio virus vaccine’ ”( Salk 2). By taking the risk of creating a vaccine that contradicted what a normal vaccine, was it helped give the United States another weapon to fight back polio without exposing americans to the risk of contracting the disease. His different approach to find a remedy may have been looked down on, but it provided the first protection ever for polio which created hope and has contributed to less fatalities today. Scientists in the medical world began to criticize Salk’s vaccine and gave preference to a polio vaccine that was later created by Sabin out of a live polio virus. Medical professionals saw Salk’s vaccine as useless and thought Sabin’ s vaccine was the best alternative. "the oral polio vaccine also came under attack in the united states for causing eight in ten cases of polio every year”( poliomyelitis 4). Sabin’s vaccine may have been stronger but at least Salk’s never provided a risk of the patients being injected run a risk of being infected again. Salk’s vaccine has provided less risk of a patient to relapse into polio again.
This summer we had an opportunity to dive into the world of bioweapons, through Richard Preston’s novel The Demon in the Freezer. His book explored the colorful world of smallpox and its use as a biological weapon. Earlier this week we were graced with this authors present for an ACES event. He discussed some of the found topics in his book such as animal testing, what small pox is, and even its eradication. One of the great things we had the chance of vocalizing were our many opinions on the gloom associated with this intriguing disease.
Andrew Suy Professor Owens History 1302 13 April 2016 Polio: An American Story Polio, formerly known as poliomyelitis, an infectious viral disease that affects the central nervous system and can cause temporary or permanent paralysis. A debilitating disease that was once the affliction of our very own republic. David Oshinsky’s Polio: An American Story chronicles polio’s progression in the United States, a feat it does quite well throughout the course of the novel.
The death rate was on the decline and life expectancy rose during this period. New medical developments were made with the federal funding of medical research in which penicillin and streptomycin were developed. These advancements in medicine have cured many bacterial infections and severe illnesses. Later, in 1952, Jonas Salk introduced a polio vaccine. There was a vast migratory pattern among many Americans during this time period.
One of the other notable important advances was the “Conquest of Polio” this disease usually caused paralysis in the people who contracted the virus. Back then there...
Poliomyelitis was the term used by doctors to describe the condition in which the gray (polios) anterior matter of the spinal chord (myelos) was inflamed (-itis). Until a cure was discovered, no one had the slightest idea where "polio" had come from or why it paralyzed so many children. People learned later that, oddly enough, it was the improved sanitary conditions which caused children to be attacked by the virus. Since people were no longer in contact with open sewers and other unsanitary conditions which had exposed them to small amounts of the polio virus as infants, when paralysis is rare, the dis...
Polio is a viral disease. It cripples thousands of people and infects even more every year. Even though millions are inoculated, and the polio disease has been successfully purged from hundreds of countries still thousands of people and developing countries are infected and still people are dying. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) polio affects the Central Nervous System, or CNS; by infesting the intestines and transmitting it into the nerves thought the blood vessels. There the virus spreads through the nerve cells to the brain stem or other motor units, while forever damaging the nerves.
Mumps is a paramyxovirus that is closely related to the parainfluenza virus. Its symptoms were first described in the 5th century BC, and it was a very common childhood affliction until the last several decades. It was identified as a virus in 1934, and an effective vaccine was developed in 1967. Mumps is acquired by aerosol, necessitating close human interaction for spread. Human beings are the only known reservoir for mumps virus, and there is only one serotype.
Envision a life consumed by grayness and misfortune, slowly weakening the body from the inside with no proof of existence other than symptoms of a common cold. Dwindling away as skin begins to cling to bone, this monster, formally addressed as the Poliomyelitis (Polio) disease, finds its way to the nerves of the body as well as the grey areas of the spinal cord, leaving its host with dreadful affects throughout the body.Since its discovery in 1905, Polio has caused several epidemics throughout the years leaving many permanently paralyzed or even dead. Thankfully, scientists created the polio vaccination which lead to the nearly complete eradication of this disease. However, In order to ensure this disease does not spread as it once did before, people must come to understand Polio’s etiology, history and modern day epidemiology, as well as its proper response to treatment.
Although the Columbian Exchange allowed for the beneficial exchange of cultures, ideas, foods, and animals around the world during the 1450-1750 time period, it also had a dark side. One detrimental result of the Columbian Exchange would be the spreading of smallpox from Europe to the New World.
Jonas Salk, a virologist at the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP), used inactivated viruses (virus particles grown in culture and then killed by a form of heat) to create a polio vaccine. Salk drew blood from about two million children, which the NFIP checked for immunization. Through the collection of many HeLa cells and trial and error, the polio vaccine was ready in a year.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Researchers were unable to identify what caused Polio to spread. It seemed to be more common in cleaner environments, unlike other diseases. Polio was found more often in the middle class rather than the poor. One reason that the polio virus was so difficult to discover, was because it wasn’t a bacteria and because most microscopes couldn’t detect the microbial agent. Another problem that created difficulties for scientists, was that the researchers couldn’t discover how the virus got
Moreover polio is a deadly disease that is caused by a highly contagious virus entering the nervous system in the brain or spinal cord causing temporary or permanent paralysis. There are three
In 1947, Salk accepted an appointment to the University Of Pittsburgh Medical School. While working there, with the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Salk saw an opportunity to develop a vaccine against polio, and devoted himself to this work for the next eight years. In 1955 Salk's years of research paid off. Human trials of the polio vaccine effectively protected the subject from the polio virus. When news of the discovery was made public on April 12, 1955, Salk was hailed as a miracle worker. He further endeared himself to the public by refusing to patent the vaccine. He had no desire to profit personally from the discovery, but merely wished to see the vaccine disseminated as widely as possible.
The famous Jonas Salk figured out how to cure several deadly terrifying diseases, saving thousands of lives. One disease, he is most recognized for curing is polio. The Polio disease was also commonly known as the infantile paralysis disease (Jonas Salk Biography). Polio is a sickness that can take effect in a period of 24 hours making you unable to breathe or even move. The most vulnerable people, susceptible of getting this terrifying disease were children, pregnant women, and the elderly (Becker). “The United States reported 57,628 polio cases. That was the worst United States epidemic on record” (Becker). Salk took on the challenge of trying to destroy this disease and with many years of hard work and determination he finally conquered it (Becker). “This burden of fear was lifted forever when it was announced that Dr. Jonas Salk had developed a vaccine against the disease” (Jonas Salk). In honor of Salk’s scientific breakthrough and relieving the world from this frightening disease the governor created a day dedicated to Jonas Salk known as Jonas Salk Day on June 4, 1962 (Becker). Polio was not the only illness Salk attempted to