The real reason polio is so dangerous
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In 1952, polio was everywhere: killing or paralyzing roughly half a million people annually. Yet just 10 years later, paralytic polio cases in the US dropped by 96% and we were on track to get rid of polio for good. But in recent years, the virus started striking back. So, what’s behind these recent spikes? Explore the dangers of poliovirus and the possibility of eradicating this deadly disease.
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Polio has existed since pre-historic times- there is even evidence of polio in ancient Egypt. Ancient images of children walking with canes or showing withered limbs that polio can cause were found on a well known 18th dynasty stele. The disease was first clinically described in 1789 by Dr. Michael Underwood and formally recognized as a condition in 1840 by Dr. Jakob Heine.
The first successful polio vaccine was created by Jonas Salk- he tested the vaccine on himself and his family in 1953, and proceeded to treat 1.6 million children in Canada, Finland and the US a year later. In 1955, the results were announced and the vaccine was licensed. Within 2 years, annual cases had dropped from 58,000 to 5600. By 1961, the cases had dropped to 161. Salk, who had previously developed an influenza vaccine, spent the last years of his life searching for a vaccine against AIDS.
You can read about celebrities who experienced poliomyelitis and their symptoms here. Frida Kahlo, most famously disabled by a car accident, was also afflicted by skeletal and muscular irregularities due to polio infection. Mia Farrow, Alan Alda, and Donald Sutherland all had polio as children as well.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or FDR, was diagnosed with polio in 1921, at the age of 39. Many speculate that dealing with the debilitating disease helped shape him as a man and as a president. Read more here.
The first successful polio vaccine was created by Jonas Salk- he tested the vaccine on himself and his family in 1953, and proceeded to treat 1.6 million children in Canada, Finland and the US a year later. In 1955, the results were announced and the vaccine was licensed. Within 2 years, annual cases had dropped from 58,000 to 5600. By 1961, the cases had dropped to 161. Salk, who had previously developed an influenza vaccine, spent the last years of his life searching for a vaccine against AIDS.
You can read about celebrities who experienced poliomyelitis and their symptoms here. Frida Kahlo, most famously disabled by a car accident, was also afflicted by skeletal and muscular irregularities due to polio infection. Mia Farrow, Alan Alda, and Donald Sutherland all had polio as children as well.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or FDR, was diagnosed with polio in 1921, at the age of 39. Many speculate that dealing with the debilitating disease helped shape him as a man and as a president. Read more here.
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Dan Kwartler
- Director Anton Bogaty
- Narrator Addison Anderson
- Composer Stephen LaRosa
- Sound Designer Stephen LaRosa
- Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
- Produced by Sazia Afrin
- Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
- Editorial Producer Dan Kwartler
- Fact-Checker Charles Wallace
- Special Thanks Ananda Bandyopadhyay, Amber Zeddies, Kathleen O'Reilly
