Polio Outbreak History

Polio, also known as poliomyelitis, is a disease

that has affected many people over the years. In
the early 20th century, polio was one of the most
feared diseases in developed countries. Outbreaks
reached pandemic sizes in Europe, North America,
Australia, and New Zealand during the 1900s. In
the U.S. the disease was nationwide. It paralyzes
hundreds of thousands of children every year. In
1950 paralytic polio had shifted from mainly
affecting infants to affecting children aged 5 to 9.

The rate of paralysis and death due to polio also

increased during this time. In the United States,
the 1950 polio epidemic was the worst outbreak in
the nation's history, and heightened parents fears
of the disease and focused public awareness on the
need for a vaccine. 57,628 cases were reported

that year, 3,145 died, and 21,269 were left with

mild to disabling paralysis. Polio originated in
Vermont in the U.S. in 1894 with 132 cases. In
1921 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) contacted
the disease and in 1927 FDR formed Warms
Springs Foundation rehabilitation center in Georgia.

In 1950 the polio disease rate soared and was the

largest outbreak in U.S. history. Later in 1953 Dr.
Jonas Salk developed a potential polio vaccine and
tested it on nearly 2 million people the following
year (1954). The next year (1955) the polio vaccine
was deemed a success. The vaccine was a way to
contain and treat the polio disease.

Also if people didnt eat contaminated food or

drink contaminated water that could also be a way
to contain the disease from spreading. Also living in
sanitary conditions would contain the disease. The
following year polio cases decreased significantly.
Because of widespread vaccination, polio was
eradicated from the Western Hemisphere in 1994.
Now in 2016, it continues to occur in Afghanistan
and Pakistan, with occasional spread to
neighboring countries. Vaccination programs are
happening to eliminate these last cases. Polio
vaccination is still recommended worldwide
because of the risk of imported cases of the
disease that put people at risk to contract polio.
After the introduction of effective vaccines in the
1950s, polio was brought under control and
basically eliminated as a public health problem in
these countries.