Fear of Polio Essay

Polio an American story is a scholarly readable and informative book which covers the lives of many American eminent scientists who struggled a lot to eradicate polio. This book mainly focuses on the mid twentieth century where the people are very eager to find a vaccine to eradicate polio .This book also covers the entire topics from appearance of polio symptoms to post polio syndrome which shows the valuable thesis done by David M. Oshinsky.

Paralytic poliomyelitis, "polio", held a reign of terror over this nation for decades. But unless you were born before 1955, polio may seem to be just another ephemeral disease that has been nonexistent for years. Those born before 1955 remember having a great fear of this horrible disease which crippled thousands of once active, healthy children. This disease had no cure and no identified causes, which made it all the more terrifying. People did everything that they had done in the past to prevent the spread of disease, such as quarantining areas, but these tactics never seemed to work. Polio could not be contained. Many people did not have the money to care for a family member with polio. This was one of the

As parents are refusing to vaccinate their children against these “long-gone” diseases due to the concern for the vaccine’s safety, they are opening the doors for those diseases like polio and measles to devastate the whole American community once again. These parents react this way because they have different realities. For example, every american back when Franklin D Roosevelt was alive knew what polio was and what it was capable of due to the effect that it had on a nation's president. Nowadays, parents are drawn to campaigns on the safety of vaccinations because of celebrities or other personalities that are protesting against vaccinations due to personal negative experience with expressed vaccine. Since many parents nowadays have not had any personal experiences with most vaccine-preventable diseases they are quick to act when, for example, Jenny McCarthy speaks up about the possibility that autism can be caused by today's vaccinations because many americans have had personal experiences with this disease or are more familiar with this disease since it is widely covered in recent media.

Officials recognized the problems, and after several years of work, they instituted two acts; the Pure Food and Drug Act, and the Meat Inspection Act. The purpose of this essay is to explore one question; To what extent were the short and long term effects of the Pure Food and Drug Act beneficial or detrimental to society? To fully answer this question, the act itself is not all that needs to be looked at. The plethora of legislation, stretching nearly a century after the original act, but especially in the 40 years after the original, must be examined. The Act does not give the full picture, for its progeny must also be appraised.

Poliomyelitis was a highly infectious disease that spread through many Americans in the early 20th century. As a matter of fact, over 3,000 Americans died of the disease each year. Families were overwhelmingly desperate for doctors to find a cure. When one suffered from polio, they generally experienced painful symptoms which included not only fatigue and muscle weakness, but even death. Therefore, when the polio vaccine was introduced by scientist Jonas Salk in 1953, it greatly contributed to Americans in numerous positive ways. Environmentally, the vaccine saved countless young American lives affected by the disease thus decreasing American mortality rates. Socially, the polio vaccine convenienced families who were either directly afflicted

Roosevelt became president with infantile paralysis (polio), which was diagnosed in 1921, and the public found out.9 Having the American people's president seem weakened by such a disease but push on through expectations showed that little to nothing was going to get in his way and stop him.10 Including FDR's case, close to 25% of those age 21 and older had paralytic cases by the early 1950s.11 Before the vaccine, there was a peak of about 50,000 cases of polio in 1953.12 Concern of the people was also around it's highest point due to the increasing risk of the horrid disease most feared at this time. Hopes for a solution were still going strong. Friends, family, and even strangers kept prayers for those in need. Anything that could be done was done until the vaccine was established. There were even several hundred thousand children placed in a control study and out of the 749,000, only 33 from the vaccinated group developed paralytic polio.13 In addition to this trial and other performed, and conclusion was drawn stating that the vaccine was 80-90% effective against the paralytic branch of polio.14 Chances for a new beginning were showing up all over with this vaccine, even if it only helped those who haven't been diagnosed

With the last outbreak of Polio in the US being in 1979, many today have no recollection of the terror of this disease. The disease primarily infected children, and there seemed to be no pattern to who succumbed to it. No one could feel safe. Polio as a disease presents such horrors that even those who overcome it once can be plagued by its aftereffects in later life. Before vaccines, single outbreaks could devastate entire communities. One outbreak

While the agricultural world is working hard to make positive influences on more efficient farming, individuals have treated GMO’s as a negative alteration in their produce. Farmers and researchers in the agricultural world claim no harm can be done by them. GMO’s have not yet been proven to be harmful to humans and have, in fac,t had a positive impact on the food industry today.

Misinformation about polio vaccine and political unrest has been cited as the main challenges holding back the global goal of achieving a polio-free world, a study has revealed.

One of the greatest accomplishments since 1982 is the invention of GMOs. They were first approved by the FDA in 1982 for Humulin, insulin that has genetically engineered E. coli bacteria. The thinking behind GMOs was to develop crops that were resistant to pests and diseases in addition to improve nutritional content. GMOs have helped numerous people around the world. They have made farmer’s crops have better yields and a more successful growing season. GMOs are beneficial and should be promoted because they are more economical and they increase productivity in agriculture; however, the opposition believes GMOs potentially cause health issues.

Immunizations have lowered the morbidity rate over the course of many years. Before vaccines were introduced, during 1900 through 1904, an average of 48,164 cases and 2528 deaths were caused by both severe and mild forms of smallpox in the United States. After the smallpox vaccine was introduced, the disease ceased to stop and the last case to ever be reported was in 1929. Getting vaccinated against the smallpox actually eradicated the disease, meaning it has been wiped out. Next, in 1951- 1954, on average, 16,316 polio cases and 1879 polio deaths were reported each year. Once the polio vaccine was introduced, less that 1000 cases were reported in 1962. As of 1991, wild-type polio viruses have been eliminated from the Western Hemisphere. But

“When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow.” – Ursula K. Le Guin. No matter what good some people believe they are doing, everything seems to come with a consequence, and the question is whether or not the good overpowers the bad. Many experts argue that Genetically Modified foods are actually beneficial to, not only people, but animals, plants, and the world overall. Some experts even state that, not only are they beneficial, but that they also protect the environment and aid food productivity. Most farmers actually recommend GMO’s because they are easier to grow, maintain, and tend to be more profitable; however, countless other experts have come to realize that GMO foods are untested, unsafe, and unhealthy. Studies indicate that

Parents who know the risk they are putting on their children and other children by choosing to opt-out of vaccines will increase vaccination rates and decrease the number of outbreaks. This solution has great potential to be effective because it has worked in the past. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) provided accurate information to parents leery of the polio vaccine in developing countries. The campaign began in 1985, when the virus was endemic in 125 countries with over 350,000 reported cases each year. GPEI found that resistance to the immunization effort was embedded in misconceptions and fear of vaccines. Extensive education and outreach programs were used to inform people, and working with religious leaders to amend rumors in a non-threatening way. The program proved to be successful when more than 2.5 billion children were vaccinated against polio, which then prevented 10 million cases of paralysis and dropped the number of cases to less than 370. Other organizations like Every Child By Two and the National Meningitis Association use scientific evidence and personal stories to promote vaccinations. Part of the problem is also that some parents choose not to be educated and continue to believe misconceptions that a simple google search could disprove. If parents are required to watch a video about the risks of not vaccinating their children before opting out of immunizations, it can be ensured that parents are making informed

When hygienic conditions were poor polio attacked infants. The disease was spread by contaminated water and contact with fecal contamination. Many infants died when the conditions were poor. But as conditions improved the virus spread differently. It was spread more through playmates and family members, the contamination came from the

Polio is an infectious disease that has killed and paralyzed many people (Birth of Jonas Salk and the death of polio in India). It has taken the lives of