The current COVID-19 pandemic may feel somewhat familiar for some Americans. COVID-19 has overwhelmed hospitals, caused school closures and brought uncertainty much like what Americans experienced at the turn of the century with the Polio virus. While Americans may feel that the current pandemic is reminiscent of the Polio pandemic, it was unique in many ways and played a major role in how Americans reacted to COVID-19.
Polio, also coined infantile paralysis, has been around for thousands of years, however this virus really began to provoke widespread fear with epidemic numbers at the turn of the century. In the early 1900s it was noted that “(the number of cases of) diphtheria, typhoid, and tuberculosis were declining” (The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 2021), most likely due to better sanitation practices. Perhaps young infants were exposed to Polio at a younger age through the water supply and also had the added benefit of maternal antibodies to provide them long lasting immunity. Better sanitation practices potentially meant that people were exposed later on in life to Polio with very little innate or adaptive immunity. The whole country began to live in fear of Polio, especially in the summer which also became known as “Polio-season”. Children would call out to their mothers that they could suddenly not feel their legs. People struck by Polio reported other symptoms such as dizziness, loss of leg function, pain, stiffness, and achiness in the spine. Some reported that every step radiated pain throughout their body. In the summer of 1916 there were many new cases of Polio with mild, cold-like symptoms that later developed into stiff joint pain or total paralysis. People knew very little about the source of the illness, and of viruses in general. Rumors of what might cause Polio evoked dramatic reactions. Thousands of stray cats were killed, New York City was doused in 4 million gallons of water, and greater sanitation efforts were made in a seemingly futile attempt to eliminate this frightening disease. Scientists did not know where it came from or how to prevent it. They believed it entered through the nose and attacked the central nervous system. The disease seemed to target children especially. Hospitals began to fill up with pediatric Polio cases. Winter of 1916 came and the rates of the disease dropped and were lower the following year but not for long. In 1921 Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) was infected with Polio and he became paralyzed and never walked again. Fighting the Polio epidemic required greater publicity and funding for research and development and received this when Franklin D. Roosevelt was paralyzed by Polio. For years, FDR devoted himself to gaining back the use of his legs and spent a majority of his wealth on a thermal spa in Georgia in an effort to provide warm therapeutic water experiences for himself and other Polio patients. FDR gave people a role model to look up to in their fight against Polio. If FDR could go on with his life and even do something as great as running for president, then Polio survivors had hope for their future. When FDR began to think about politics again he turned over his spa to an old law partner, Basil O’Connor. Fundraising for Polio began with greater efforts for the purpose of research and development. Basil O’Connor organized events to raise money, and in 1938 FDR founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and the March of Dimes. Both FDR and Basil O’Connor aimed for growing public support in the fight against Polio, in the midst of their efforts in WWII. Despite more research and funding, by 1931 there was still very little known about the virus and the country was again facing particularly bad outbreaks of Polio across the country. By 1935, John Colmer designed the first Polio vaccine tested on monkeys. The country was so anxious to have a solution to this frightening disease that early attempts to develop vaccines for children and medical professionals ended with horrendous results. A more successful approach to treat Polio came from an Australian nurse, Elizabeth Kenny. Instead of casting and immobilizing Polio patients’ legs, she treated them with compresses and muscle rehabilitation practices that would be the origin of physical therapy. Post-WWII America saw a huge spike in Polio cases. More people were hospitalized, striking children the hardest. In 1950, the number of new cases of Polio reached 33,000. The race to develop a vaccine was growing more urgent. In 1955, Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh began one of the largest human field tests of all time for his vaccine, after publishing his paper in 1953 on Studies in Human Subjects on Active Immunization Against Poliomyelitis. The field study went well. Many people were vaccinated and they reported 80-90% effectiveness of the vaccine. It seemed that Jonas Salk was a modern-day hero until two weeks into a nationwide vaccination program, when children began to come down with Polio. Thousands of children died and some were permanently paralyzed. There were 9 faulty lots of the vaccine that were to blame for this disaster, known as The Cutter Incident. The vaccination program resumed after the incident. Another vaccine was being developed around this time, by Albert Sabin of Cincinnati. Due to a lack of support in the United States, Albert Sabin tested his vaccine in the Soviet Union. In 1959, 77 million Russions took the live virus vaccine which came in the form of drops. The vaccine was wildly successful and was then licensed in the United States in 1960. Sabin and Salk’s vaccines are used today, however the ease of use of the Sabin vaccine made it more widely accepted. Those Americans who lived through Polio and remember this epidemic may draw some conclusions about the similarities and differences to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Both of these viruses have created widespread economic disruption and the need for additional funding from the public and/or the public for research and development of vaccines. They also both created major life altering disruptions in the lives of people across the country. How would these people that were paralyzed by Polio work and support themselves in the future? How would people survive with the loss of a job or a loved one in the COVID-19 pandemic? Both of these viruses ignited major vaccine programs. Perhaps most notably, these viruses made people in our country turn both towards and against each other in times of crisis. While there are notable similarities, these two viruses differ on the historical context, who they infected, and how drastically they impacted the future quality of life for people. Polio hit at a time when we knew very little of viruses or vaccines. Polio had disastrous pathology, especially to children, and this heightened the fear-factor for many parents. While most feared Polio, there are many who feel that COVID-19 is no worse than the flu, despite contrary evidence. People are more likely to know about bad vaccine reactions and are reluctant to vaccinate their children, due to their lower susceptibility to COVID-19 than adults. On the contrary, COVID-19 has targeted the elderly population. A vaccine was welcomed for Polio but is highly controversial for COVID-19, due to many factors, including misinformation. Overall, a perceived lower risk of the COVID-19 vaccine contributed to partial compliance in the national vaccination program. Even though Polio epidemics continue to impact people globally, the last case of Polio in the United States was recorded in 1979 and Polio was declared eradicated in 1980. At the beginning of the 1900s we knew so little of this horrifying virus. Now we know it moves from the intestine to the bloodstream to the nervous system attacking the nerve cells that send messages to muscles leading to paralysis. Scientists know the structure of the virus and some aspects of replication. Most importantly, we have an effective vaccine to help protect people from experiencing what so many once did only one or two generations back.
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