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| 2007 | ||
| Polio - 2007 | ||
PolioBy Erin Penner |
2007 Article Links Benefits of ASM Membership | |
Do you remember polio? If you were born after 1960, you probably don’t remember the disease at all. In fact, you may not even remember being vaccinated against the poliovirus. Two vaccines developed in the 1950s have now eradicated polio from developed countries. In 1954, Jonas Salk, an American physician, developed the first vaccine from an inactivated form of the poliovirus. In a very short time, Salk tested the vaccine on over 600,000 children. The inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) proved safe and effective, and soon mass immunizations were taking place all over the country. Janet Shagam remembers, “even though we all knew people who got polio . . . we were also terrified of the shots. We didn’t really have much experience with getting poked.” Shagam felt insulted when her mother took her back to the doctor for her booster shot because her mother had originally said she would only need one shot. The young Janet absolutely refused to enter the doctor’s office, and had to be dragged in “like a sack of potatoes.” By the late 1950s, polio had been subdued enough by IPV that the polio scare had diminished. However, experiences like Shagam’s caused people to become wary of the shots themselves. |
In 1962, Albert Sabin developed an oral polio vaccine (OPV) from a live and weakened strain of the poliovirus that was approved for public use. In contrast to the series of three to four injections required by Salk’s vaccine, OPV was taken by mouth, and a single dose conferred lifelong immunity. Children who received OPV have far less traumatic memories of the experience than Shagam. My mother remarked, “I remember that they put it on my tongue and it tasted salty.” In 2000, the U.S. discontinued use of OPV, because the live virus in the vaccine caused around 10 cases of actual polio per year. Today, IPV is required before U.S. children enter school. Both IPV and OPV have their place in the global fight against polio. At the start of 2006, only four countries remained endemic, indicating significant progress. Thanks to Salk and Sabin’s commitment to the polio vaccine we may soon live in a world in which polio is only a distant memory. Shagam would certainly argue that getting poked a few times is far better than the alternative. Erin Penner is a UNM senior. She will graduate in May with a Bachelor of University Studies degree, with concentrations in both Professional Writing and Intercultural Communication. |
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Rio Grande Branch of the American Society for Microbiology |