Fear of Polio in the 1950s Essay examples

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.

Throughout the years, there have been many serious diseases that plagued the world, a number of which have been eradicated through the widespread administration of vaccinations. In the 1950s, the number of polio cases in the United States was at 58,000, and in 1988, this disease had affected 350,000 people (11 Facts About Polio). Because polio mainly affects children under the age of five, it became very important to parents that something was done to cure and protect their children. When the polio vaccine was created, doctors were able to administer it to people across America, eventually erasing the virus from the country. While the majority of parents in the United States agree that vaccinations should be mandatory for children (excluding certain children with medical conditions preventing vaccination), there are a growing number of parents choosing to take a stand against these rules. Vaccinations are important because when they are administered, the child becomes protected against the diseases, resulting in fewer cases of contraction. In order to protect the children and adults of the United States from many potentially life-threatening illnesses, vaccinations should be mandatory for every able-bodied child.

Heather Green Wooten’s The Polio Years in Texas: Battling a Terrifying Unknown chronicles the history of polio in Texas in a very extensive timeline. The book goes all the way back to the beginning of the polio epidemic and essentially progresses to the present. The time in this book certainly exceeds that of, The Captured and Isaac’s Storm. The Captured chronicled a long period of captivity, but did not appear to exceed a decade. Isaac’s Storm traced the initial development of Weather Bureau and covered a great period, but did not exceed that of The Polio Years. Several themes begin to emerge further into the book. Obvious themes included, the support for March of Dimes, impact on families affected by polio, the growth and development of rehabilitation facilities, and more importantly the response to the disease by Texans. Oddly, Wooten discusses the fact that other diseases such as, measles, diphtheria, and tuberculosis took more lives than Polio. However, people feared Polio more than the rest. Wooten attributes polio’s terrifying affect to the uncertainty. Several uncertainties such as, how to prevent it, why did some become crippled, why did some die, and why did it only essentially affected children made polio very terrifying in the 20th century. Texas appeared to have been hit the hardest in comparison to other states. Wooten’s research examined the time during and then after World War II. During this period, Texas saw an immense amount of polio contractions. Per

To be specific, because of the fact that polio was feared by the majority of Americans, it resulted in a widespread feeling of paranoia. According to David M. Ohinsky, someone who lived through the epidemic before the vaccine, it surprisingly got to the point where people “stopped handling paper money and refused to shake hands” (1). America as a whole feared the disease because both the cause and the cure for polio was undiscovered. Significantly, Americans “looking for anything that could beat back the horror of polio offered up more than 1.8 million children to serve as test subjects” (Wilson 1). The desperation of The United States for the vaccine, was viewed negatively to American history as shown through the immense number of children forced to serve as test subjects by their parents. Even though the parents were harsh on their children by sacrificing them, it ultimately resulted in a positive outcome. This positive outcome was the successful introduction to the poliomyelitis vaccine, which left America overjoyed. The United States sacrificed many children in order to save millions more in the future. In an interview, David M. Ohinsky, an author and history professor, remembers the exact day of the polio vaccine introduction on April 25, 1955 and claimed that “the announcement came from Ann Arbor, Mich. Church bells tolled, factory whistles blew. People ran into the streets weeping” (1). The euphoria brought about a unification within the community. Moreover, it immensely filled American families with hope who were desperate for a cure. American parents no longer had to fear that their children would catch the fatal

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a disease that attacks the nervous tissue in the spinal cord and the brain stem resulting in paralysis (Document One). Polio is caused by the poliovirus, but it is unknown how this virus is acquired. The virus enters the digestive tract and stays in the intestines for up to eight weeks, and then attacks the lymphatic system, the blood stream and eventually travels to the brain and spine (Document Four). Once it is infected in one’s body, the disease is highly contagious and can be spread through contact of saliva, food, germs, or feces (Document Two). “The poliovirus causes most of its infections in the summer and fall. At one time, summer epidemics of polio were common and greatly feared” (Document Four). This may

Polio, something that can devastate anyone and everyone so very quickly. In 1953, you didn’t know when you could be infected with this life threatening disease.

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

and young adults causing crippling of legs and loss of ability to breathe. Getting the Polio vaccine became a

David Oshinsky's 2005 Polio: An American Story, is a history of the fight to eradicate polio in the 20th century. Polio became one of the most, if not THE most, feared diseases of the century due to the influence and example of President Franklin Roosevelt, who was stricken with the disease as an adult in 1921. Owner of a Warm Springs, GA resort dedicated to polio rehabilitation(where he died in 1945), Roosevelt needed to raise funds to keep the resort operational. In 1934, he allowed planners to throw a nationwide series of birthday parties (over 6,000) for him to raise money for the care of polio survivors and for the upkeep of Warm Springs. The success of these parties and recognition that the key to raising money during the Great Depression

Almost 100 years later, the first polio outbreak was recorded in Vermont, with 132 cases. Another polio outbreak was recorded in 1916, but it was not just confined to one state this time, it was the whole U.S. that was affected. This would only be the start of an epidemic that wouldn't just affect the United States, but the

“The only thing to fear is fear itself,” Franklin D. Roosevelt once said (“Franklin D. Roosevelt”). Polio is a virus that is usually harmless and unnoticeable, but sometimes can be very severe and deadly. Polio was very common at one point in time but current day is becoming very rare. Franklin D. Roosevelt, otherwise known as FDR, was inspirational due to he never gave up and made himself believe that his paralysis in his legs was not permanent. Franklin D. Roosevelt had polio and was determined to get a cure to help himself and others who also had polio.

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

The poliovirus is one of the most transmittable and most contagious viruses that the human population has come in contact with.  The structure of the poliovirus allows it to be able to bind to motor neuron cells within a host’s body and reproduce quickly. Like all virus’s, the poliovirus