Near Eradication of Polio

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.

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

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

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

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.

The discovery of a chemical made by Canada was used to treat and cure Polio through a joint effort between USA and Canada. Canada developed a more effective oral vaccine after The United States drug trial caused severe backlashes. A graph published by Dr. Christopher J. Rutty visually depicts polio incidents till 1962 portrays the rates after each vaccine, like the Salk and Sabin vaccine made by United States and Canada respectively (Rutty). The graph shows a major decrease in Polio incidents after Canada created the Sabin vaccine in order to counteract the severe polio backlash caused by USA’s drug that was accidentally inactivated and caused polio instead of curing it. The graph is a major indicator that Canadian doctors working on the vaccine were extremely diligent and smart when working on the creation of the Sabin vaccine (the Canadian oral vaccine). The graph also signifies the speed at which Canada was able to release an effective cure for the backlash of the Salk vaccine (USA’s version of the polio vaccine) indicating, Canada was a growing nation in the 1970s in medicine. The creation of the Sabin vaccine led to copious numbers of Polio organizations in Canada doing worldwide care after a national vaccine was found. Canada’s role in the treatment of polio had resonating effects worldwide as a result. Canadian female doctor Vera Peters

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

The government has a duty to protect the citizen of a population. Government cannot sit idly and watch people suffer and not do anything because a few citizens are against vaccination. Government has to protect mankind. This might seem paternalistic by the government but it is for the good of a society. For example, when seats belts were mandated to protect every individual in a society (McLeod, 2014). The long-term effect of polio is reported that 1 in 200 cases result in irreversible paralysis (McLeod, 2014). While 1 or 2 in 200 cases of whooping cough result in infants’ death (McLeod, 2014). With these numbers the government has the right to express their paternalistic view. The government also has to find a balance between parent’s autonomy and the right to protect the population. When parents and government realize that they have the same goals to protect children then a dialogue can open up on how to get more parents to vaccinate there children. People cannot disregard the goals of another if they are to act morally (Loewey & Loewey, 2000, p.35).

It’s always heartbreaking when a child or young adult is lost to an illness, especially one that could have been prevented by a simple immunization shot. There is a common belief that just because you don’t hear about a contagion, that means it has been fully removed as a threat to our health; however, this is far from the truth. Just because we do not hear about the polio virus in our country does not mean it has been eradicated. There are still a small handful of countries in the world where this disease still lurks, only a short trip away. We live in a society where diseases such as measles, polio, whooping cough, tetanus, and hepatitis A and B, once rare due to immunization campaigns, are reappearing in certain areas. In recent history, a growing population of parents are choosing not to have their children vaccinated; this choice causes problems for their children, for the children of others, and for the general population as well.

Poliomyelitis (polio) is an infectious disease caused by the polio virus and is spread from person to person through faecal-oral transmission which means; stool entering the mouth or consumption of food containing stool from an infection person. The poliovirus resides in the intestinal tract and mucus in the nose and throat. Contact with infected respiratory secretions or even saliva can cause poliovirus transmission. This mode of transmission is known as oral-oral transmission. Polio became prevalent in the United States of America (U.S) in the 1940s and 1950s.this was followed by outbreaks of the disease that crippled tens of thousands in North America. Polio eradication is aimed at reducing the global incidence of polio to zero through deliberate efforts to a point that it requires no further control. Polio eradication is to be achieved through interruption of endemic transmission of poliovirus through vaccination. This saw the wide use of the inactivated polio virus (IPV) that was administered orally (OPV); oral polio vaccine.

Letchworth Village, an insane asylum opened in 1911, is a village consisting of 130 or more buildings designed as a place to help treat and care for patients with mental disorders. This quickly turned for the worse. Due to the limited laws about taking care of patients at the time, it became a place of inhuman torture and experimentation on human beings. There were many unfortunate events that led to the death of patients and even more suffering of the already mentally ill. Patients ranged from newborns all the way to the elderly. The first trial of the polio vaccine took place here. 17 out of the 20 children it was administered on, developed anti-bodies with no complications. That was just about the only good thing that came out of Letchworth.

Immunization: During today’s visit Max needs 4 immunizations, such as: Dtap, Polio, Hep A, and Varicella. Dtap and Polio is part of Maxe’s primary immunization. First, I would ask mom if she would like her son to receive 4 mentioned above vaccines (consent needed). If mom agreed to vaccination, I would verify if her son didn’t have any of the following symptoms after receiving last Dtap: a brain or nervous system disease within 7 days, non-stop crying for 3h or more, a seizure or collapse, and fever over 105F. For the Polio vaccine I would verify if Max is allergic to the antibiotic neomycin, streptomycin, or polymyxin B (“Yours child’s”, 2015). For varicella vaccine, I would verify if Max has an allergy to gelatin or neomycin antibiotic (“Chickenpox”, 2008). With Hepatitis A, Max wouldn’t get this vaccine if he was allergic to latex (“Hepatitis A”, 2011). Copy of vaccine information statements, available also on CDC website, would be provided to mom. I would also educate mom that every vaccine, like medication, has side effects. She can expect to see redness, tenderness or swelling where the shot was given or mild fever. Max can be a little bit more fussy, tired, has poor appetite, or he can vomit after receiving vaccination. These symptoms are normal after vaccination for 1-2 days (“Yours child’s”, 2015). If mom has any questions or concerns related to vaccination, she should call the office.

In February 2013 nine female polio vaccination workers in Nigeria were killed. This tragic incident sheds some light on resistance to vaccinations. Ten years ago Nigerian religious leaders told citizens that vaccines were unsafe, that they caused sterility. Polio is close to becoming the second disease successfully eliminated due to vaccines. Less than 250 cases of Polio were reported last year worldwide. Polio can only be eliminated if Nigeria stops resisting and if South Asia does the same ("The Dangers of Vaccine Defiance [analysis]."). Polio is still a problem in Nigeria, even though it’s not in America. Given the amount of international travel and immigration, to not vaccinate is to risk the chance of young children getting a deadly disease. (Offit) Polio causes permanent paralysis in one in every 200 cases and death in a tenth of those cases. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) claims that 10 million children have been saved from paralysis due to vaccination. Vaccinations save 10 million lives every year. Many

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

In less than 20 years, worldwide cases of polio dropped from 350,000 in 125 countries down to just 2,000 infections in 17 countries (CDC, HHS)(Vaccine Programs…). Pertussis once claimed the lives of over 9,000 Americans every year. In the decade of the 2000s, it claimed only 181 lives. Just 50 years ago, Rubella caused the death or miscarriage of over 13,000 infants in this country. Another 20,000 were born blind, deaf, and/or mentally retarded. Tetanus, today in 2015, will kill 300,000 newborns and 30,000 mothers worldwide, mostly in developing counties. Yet virtually every Americans can remember their last tetanus booster shot, their last immunization. These are just a handful of examples of diseases which we have, in our modern times, pushed back to the brink of near extinction. Entire generations of Americans have grown up without seeing their childhood friends paralyzed by Polio, or blinded by Rubella, or lost entirely by any number of diseases. It is important to have context as to how many of our friends and neighbors, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters are living full and productive lives because of the scientific wonderment of immunization. It is also important to realize the very real, crippling, life altering reality that comes from a society not immunized, capable of being ripped apart by an onslaught of pestilence. In order to preserve the health and welfare of the American population, the federal government needs to mandate that