In 1952, there were around 58,000 cases of polio reported in the US, and children were most affected by this horrible disease. Polio attacks the nervous system and can cause different degrees of paralysis. The virus was highly infectious, so breakouts occurred many times in the early 1900s.
On March 26, 1953, Jonas Salk announced he had successfully tested a new vaccine.
Unfortunately, a defective batch was sent out produced by Cutter Laboratories of Berkeley, California that slowed down it’s use.
The incident delayed production of the vaccine, but new polio cases dropped to under 6,000 in 1957, the first year after the vaccine was widely available. In 1962, an oral vaccine developed by Polish-American researcher Albert Sabin became available, greatly facilitating the distribution of the polio vaccine. Today, there is no year-round transmission of poliovirus in the United States. Among other honors, Jonas Salk was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977
Open thread away.
