The Polio Vaccine by John Stiffler

I. Introduction


Poliomyelitis, or Polio, is a disease which has afflicted mankind for centuries. It causes a withering and deformation in the legs,weakening of the spine, and neurological malformation, often occurring among young children and causing the need for a cane or wheelchair. A constant fear for parents, it couldn't be stopped, only slowed. Then, in 1952, Jonas Salk created a vaccine for the virus. After several years of testing, it was released in 1955 and saved the lives of millions of children. This vaccine was one of the most important medical developments of the 20th century, and has become one of the most important vaccines ever created.

II. Creation

While Polio was first diagnosed in 1789, it may have existed for thousands of years before that. At first it only affected small numbers of children or those in more remote parts of the world, but in 1900, several small epidemics broke out in Noth America and Europe. By 1950, the disease had peaked into a pandemic, infecting 58,000 people in the US alone in 1952. During the 1930's and 40's, many doctors and medical professionals attempted to create a cure. Federal funding, supported by Congress, was given to many researches in hopes of finding a cure. In the late 40's, John Enders was able to cultivate the virus in human tissue. This led to the research of Jonas Salk, who began researching in the early 50's. In 1952, he had a breakthrough, and created the Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine (IPV), which was an injection of dead polio cells. After three years of testing on several large groups of children, he published his results in 1955, and massive vaccination campaigns began. Another man, Albert Sabin, used Salk's to create the Oral Poliovirus Vaccine (OPV), which was made from attenuated (weakened) polio cells, and was easier to administer. As a result, the two vaccines, of which Salk's remained the most prominent, went into wide-scale production.

III. Biography

Jonas Salk was born on October 28, 1914, in New York City, to Russian-Jewish immigrants. Graduating from the City College of New York City in 1934, studying at New York University for his Ph.D., focusing in bacteriology and biochemistry. After residence as a lab assistant at Mount Sinai Hospital, Salk worked at the University of Michigan, devoloping Influenza vaccines. Then, in 1947, Salk began working in the for the University of Pittsburgh as a researcher. As the fight aginst polio became a nationwide, heavily-funded research project, Salk went on board the project and attempted to create his own vaccine using the much safer killed polio cells. Using himself, his wife, and children as willing test subjects, he reached a conclusion in 1952. In 1954, large field tests began on 220,000 volunteers. On April 12, 1955, he published his findings, stating the vaccine was a success. Huge vaccination campaigns followed, immunizing 100 million people in two years. After facing a large controversial battle with Dr. Albert Sabin, who created the OPV, Salk was backed by the Federal government, and his vaccine became the most widely accepted. Going on to further researching cures for cancer and a common cold vaccine, Salk opened the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in 1963. In the 1980's, he began work on finding a cure for AIDS. On June 20, 1995, the 80-year-old Salk died of heart failure. He is honored as the creator one of the greatest medical achievements in history.

IV. Impact on The World

Jonas Salk's polio vaccine was one of the most important medical discoveries of the 20th century, and perhaps in all of history. Before his discovery, tens of thousands were infected in America alone every year. His vaccine was able to save the lives of millions of people, and prevent the disease infecting many people not yet born. His research has allowed for the immunization of hundreds of millions of children around the world. By the 1980's, polio had been 97% eradicated, becoming an extemely rare illness. Today, all children are immunized as infants and again throughoght the first few years of life. In the US and in much of Europe, Latin America, and Eastern Asia, polio has been destroyed. Immunization efforts continue in Africa and the Middle East in hopes that the disease will be completely eradicated. Jonas Salk's contribution to the medical world has save millions and as a result, I've never met or seen anyone with polio. May 6th is Dr. Jonas E. Salk Day.

V. Journal Article

In the journal article titled "50th Anniversary of th Polio Vaccine", the results of the polio vaccine since it was introduced in 1955 are discussed. The author discusses how over the seventeen years that a cure was researched, millions of people came together to support and help each other, volunteering to let themselves be used as test subjects and assisstants. Communities joined together in one national fight against a disease. Since the licensure of the vaccine, the disease has disappeared in America. However, the article goes on to say, the disease is still prevalent in many parts of the world, such as Africa and the Middle East. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative works towards the destruction of the disease. Because of their immunization efforts, the disease has dwindled to 1,200 repoted cases a year worldwide. The article concludes that the reason why polio is gone in the US is because the government completely backed the research for a cure. Other countries aren't as lucky, and because of that, everyone must work together for complete global immunization.

VI. Conclusion

In conclusion, Jonas Salk's research was able to almost completely destroy a disease that had ravaged milllions of lives in under a hundred years. His creation of the IPV was a feat of medical science. With help from the research of many other men and women of his time, he was able to create, test, and release a successful vaccine in only three years. His discovery has saved the lives of hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. His achievement is the reason why many people today have been able to lead successful, happy lives. Because of the Inactivated Polio Vaccine, an extremely harmful disease is almost completely gone.

References

1. 50th Anniversary of the Polio Vaccine. (2005). Journal of Environmental Health, 68.

2. Oshinsky, David M. (2005). Polio: An American Story. Oxford University Press.

3. Seytre, Bernard, Shaffer, Mary. (2005). The Death of a Disease: A History of the Eradicate of Poliomyelitis. Rutgers University Press.