The Struggle With Polio In The United States

The United States has weathered many hardships throughout history. The U. S. itself was built on the virtue of freedom; however, many Americans had to fight for their own rights. America was put to the test on multiple occasions: the Civil War, which split the county in two, the Spanish-American war, where the country gained Puerto Rico and the Philippines, WWI, The Great Depression, The Dust Bowl, and WWII. America has been to hell and back multiple times. Nevertheless, America is thought to be a place of new beginnings and opportunities. It isn't known to many that it is also a breeding ground for disease. One of the harshest diseases that wreaked havoc on the country was Polio.

Polio, also known as infantile paralysis, is a highly contagious intestinal infection that is spread from person to person through the contact of fecal waste. ¨An infected person may spread the virus to others immediately before and about one to two weeks after symptoms appear¨. It enters the body through the mouth and spreads through contact with the feces of an infected person and, though less common, through droplets from a cough or sneeze. Most people infected with poliovirus (about 72 out of 100) will not show any visible symptoms. The majority may exhibit regular cold symptoms such as a headache and nausea, but these symptoms last only a short amount of time and typically go away on their own after a couple of days. In a small number of cases, the virus invades the central nervous system through the bloodstream, destroying the nerve cells and in turn causing paralysis and muscle weakness. Paralysis is the most severe symptom of the disease since the paralytic effects last for life. ¨Between 2 and 10 out of 100 people who have paralysis from polio virus infection die because the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe¨.

Polio has gone through three distinct phases: endemic, epidemic, and post-vaccine. The polio virus was present in the environment for thousands of years and, for the longest time, it circulated freely in unsanitary conditions, passing harmlessly from one person to the next. The outcome for almost everyone was a mild infection followed by a lifetime of immunity. ¨Until the mid-1800's in Europe, epidemics were either so limited that they weren't recognized or they were not recorded¨.

The first recorded polio epidemic in the United States occurred in Otter valley, Vermont, in 1894. The event might have gone unnoticed if it hadn't been for the efforts of a man named Charles Caverly. Caverly, a doctor interested in public health, took note of every case. A majority of the victims were male children. Most of the cases began the same way with a headache, fever, nausea, fatigue, and a stiff neck. Caverly emphasized 2 key points in his study. First, the term ¨infantile paralysis¨ was misleading, since most of the victims were children, and several were adults. Second, there was a nonparalytic form of the disease in which the victim displayed minor symptoms and recovered quickly. In June of 1916, a health crisis was reported in an area of Brooklyn, New York, known as Pigstown. Newspaper reports mention parents complaining that their children could no longer hold a bottle and that their legs seemed limp. When the first deaths were confirmed days later, the health department rushed dozens of investigators to Pigstown. The official diagnosis turned out to be Polio. New York's population had exploded in the 1800s. Waves of immigrants poured in from Europe, all seeking a better life in the United States. This influx of immigrants overwhelmed the cities housing stock, social services, and sanitation facilities. Because of this, they became synonymous with sickness and filth. This bias remained until stunning breakthroughs in research and sanitation brought higher mortality rates to New York in the late 1800s. New York's polio outbreak had been unexpected. News from Pigstown rekindled fears of old when Italian immigrants were blamed for the spread of the mysterious disease outbreak. ¨Since May 15,¨ warned the New York Times, ¨90 immigrant Italians, including 24 children under the age of 10 having gone to live in Brooklyn, where the outbreak first appeared¨. People believed that since other epidemics were tamed by better sanitation, the same could be done with Polio. A number of things were done, including a regulation of sewage, purification of water, and pasteurization of milk. Not to mention, people themselves took to the streets, removing stray animals which were believed to aid in the spread of polio. ¨72,000 Cats Killed in Paralysis Fear¨ read one of that summer´s headlines. Additionally, ¨health officers scoured the city´s Italian neighborhoods, posting signs on ¨contaminated¨ buildings, closing theaters to minors and hospitalizing sick children. ¨

Polio ward staffs isolated suspected carriers from their families, stripped away and burned clothes and belongings assumed to be infected, and put terrified children through excruciating spinal taps. Patients were called ¨Cripplied Polios¨, and, if confirmed with the diagnosis, were given pajamas with a large red dot on the back that advertised infectious status. All children leaving New York were required to get a ¨travel certificate¨ proving that they were ¨polio-free¨. Meanwhile, heavily enforced policeman were instructed to patrol the roads and rail stations in search of fleeing New Yorkers, the Times reported, ¨with instructions to turn back every van, car, cart, and … instruct all comers that they would not be permitted under any circumstances to take up residence in their city. ¨ Even with improved sanitation, the disease continued to spread across the United States. During the summer of 1921, the disease struck a prominent citizen, just as his political career was on the rise. Future president Franklin Delano Roosevelt was 39 when he began experiencing lower back pain, and after contracting a sudden fever and chills, he lost the use of both legs. Both Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor were surprised at the outcome, as it was uncommon for a middle aged person to contract infantile paralysis. Most cases occurred during infancy, and most children become immune to polio by the age of four. Nevertheless, Roosevelt fell victim to infantile paralysis at the age of 39 (PBS). The fact that Roosevelt came down with Polio changed the course of the disease.

During the Fall of 1921, Roosevelt made the decision to remove himself from his political career (PBS). He began his rehabilitation process at his home in Hyde Park, New York, where he began routinely swimming three times a week. He also bought a remote Georgia resort, whose springfed baths were reputed to have healing powers, and turned it into the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation. The Foundation was committed to the rehabilitation of polio patients from around the country. Roosevelt made great progress in both Hyde Park and Warm Springs. His exercises paid off, but he still remained a paraplegic. In 1928, Roosevelt fought his way back onto the national political stage (PBS). Disabilities were frowned upon during the 1920s, making Roosevelt unsure of how the public would react to his disability. Nevertheless, Americans were not shaken by it during his rise to political power. More people were sympathetic towards his condition rather than embarrassed. Roosevelt ran for president in the 1932 election, which resulted in his overall win.

Roosevelt's disability did not directly affect his role as president, but he himself wasn't openly comfortable about his disability. He was often required to navigate to a podium or area in which he would greet listeners. He could have simply chosen to remain in his wheelchair, but he wanted to assure Americans that he was not weak, and he did not want to give the impression that he was helpless. Likewise, it was important for him to at least seem as if he could walk. In the event that he would have to walk, he devised a plan in which he would use his cane and the arm of his son for balance. He also requested that the press avoid photographing him while walking, maneuvering, or being transferred from his car. Roosevelt chose to hide his own disability. Nevertheless, he made sure to put effort into assisting others who suffered with it. To keep the fight against Polio alive, he turned to his law partner Basil O'Connor, who knew a great deal about power and persuasion. O'Connor worked tirelessly to keep the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation afloat. America, at the time, was experiencing the worst economic depression in its history. The foundation´s usual funding, donations from the rich, had nearly dried up. Additionally, the number of cases of polio continued to rise. People had a hard time understanding the disease due to the fact that, even though America was becoming a cleaner, more antiseptic society, the polio rates were still increasing dramatically (PBS). O'Connor didn't know much about the science of polio, but he did know that polio patients depended on private charities like his, and not the government, for help. Without a new way to raise money, his foundation could offer no more than hope. Be that as it may, he decided it was time to try something new. O'Connor decided to enlist celebrities to the cause to appeal to the public. He spoke over radio stations, and TVs all over the country, asking people to ¨send a dime to president Roosevelt at the white house¨ (PBS). The campaign was called ¨The March of Dimes¨. (PBS)¨The March of Dimes campaign exceeded all expectations, raising $1. 8 million dollars¨ (PBS). O'Connor realized that this was a fundraising goldmine. He discovered that the key was no longer receiving big amounts from a small number of people, but instead receiving little amounts from a big number of people. ¨No one is too poor to give a dime to help a kid walk again¨ (PBS). O'Connor pledged to provide care for every polio patient in America; to pay for doctors, nurses, and the most up-to-date rehabilitation (PBS). He even invested in scientific research, aimed at stopping polio forever. Every summer, more and more people were infected with polio. Under those circumstances, O'Connor knew he was in a race against time. By the late 1940s, The March of Dimes grew, and raised as much as ¨ $22 million dollars per year¨ (PBS). The March of Dimes turned an awful but relatively uncommon disease into a national disease and crusade. O'Connor believed that the best was to raise money was to scare the American public into doing so. The fear overwhelmed common sense, causing people to take extraordinary measures to avoid polio. ¨They sprayed the pesticide DDT despite the fact that scientists had proved that flies did not spread the virus¨ (PBS). People did as little as possible, isolated themselves, and prayed they wouldn't get this horrible disease.

O'Connor claimed that the long awaited miracle, a cure for polio, was in sight. This message raised hopes and dimes from an anxious public. Conversely, in the scientific community, there was a different reaction. Scientists believed they were still years away from a vaccine. In 1951, years after his promise of a vaccine, O'Connor met Jonas Salk, a scientist who was as stubborn and driven as he was himself (PBS). Most scientists during the time believed that only a live virus would work in creating a vaccine. Salk had visioned creating a vaccine that was like that of the flu vaccine. Unlike the majority, he believed that a killed virus vaccine was possible and would be faster to produce. Salk raced to find a polio vaccine.

On July 2, 1952 Jonas Salk injected 43 children with his killed virus vaccine (PBS). He administered the vaccine to his family and to himself. The results showed that his human subjects had elevated levels of polio-fighting antibodies. In the end, not one of the subjects got polio. Basil O'Connor announced that The March of Dimes would finance an experiment that tested Salk's vaccine on hundreds of thousands of school children (PBS). The March of Dimes began field trials, in which parents would have to wait nearly a year for the results. On the morning of April 12, 1955, The March of Dimes announced that the vaccine was a success. Jonas Salk was viewed as an American hero, and the awful disease had now been conquered by a man that the American people themselves had funded. The vaccine indicated 20 years of giving dimes; and it was a victory for millions of people in the U. S. America has dealt with a number of horrible things. Nevertheless, it is these things that give America its reputation. A reputation of being a nation that never gives up, no matter the cost.