Such fears were miraculously allayed with the introduction of effective vaccines beginning in 1954.
As a result, I was the only person in our family who was still affected by polio. As someone who was spared the more severe effects of partial or complete paralysis, the lifelong effects of polio have mostly been an annoyance for me.
until now. I am more aware of the risks the polio virus may pose in the future due to the emergence of new viral disease agents, most notably the coronavirus, and my personal experience with the symptoms of polio in later life. Unless we humans can commit to greater discipline in eradicating the virus altogether, polio conceivably might have a new day in the sun. Generally speaking, different viruses.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning history book Polio, An American Story by David M. Oshinsky, published in 2005, vividly describes how, in the 1940s and 1950s, independent researchers, academic institutions, pharmaceutical firms, private charities, and government agencies at all levels proved the efficacy and safety of two competing anti-polio vaccines. After that, the vaccinations became a routine for countless kids in the United States and most other economically developed nations, effectively ending new cases of polio there.
The focus of subsequent efforts shifted to developing nations in Asia, Africa, and other regions.
Then problems started to appear. Despite being categorically debunked, some reports led people to believe there was a connection between vaccinations and autism. When the coronavirus first appeared, scientists and pharmaceutical companies quickly developed secure and efficient vaccines to ward off various iterations of the mutating Covid virus. However, achieving the other goal of the vaccine-versus-virus equation—vaccinating everyone—was no longer as simple.
Some people no longer embraced the cooperative spirit that helped other large-scale vaccination drives succeed, whether it was due to politics, religion, a fear of side effects, or a preference for individualism.
The dedication to social justice required to address public health challenges became obvious not only in the coronavirus but also in diseases like polio that seemed to have been beaten. A non-vaccinated adult was found in one of the suburbs of New York.
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