Jonas Salk and the Invention of the Polio Vaccine Imagine living in a time where medical treatment was

sparse. Furthermore, think about maybe not being able to walk properly, paralyzed limbs, or vomiting every here and there. Now, what if you lived back in the 1800s when there was no cure, or at least ways to feel better? What would happen? You would most likely die. Since the 1800s, the poliovirus, also known as polio, or poliomyelitis, has been a scary, life-threatening epidemic that has infected and killed around 13,000 to 20,000 people per year. In 1947, Dr. Jonas Salk told himself that he would work to find a way to cure polio. In about five years since he had begun his research, Salk invented a vaccine that killed the poliovirus. Once the vaccine was invented, a turn occurred in the. Jonas Salk changed history by inventing the polio vaccine.

Before the polio vaccine was invented, people were dying and living in misery. All throughout the United States, wards of children were hospitalized with the polio disease. Many children were also put in iron lungs. An iron lung is a big tank respirator that helps breathing. Since the disease paralyzed many muscles in the chest, iron lungs are used commonly for polio. Beds and beds laying sick children filled hospitals around the country. As serious and distressing as the poliovirus was, there was very little that could be done to prevent it. Iron lungs were one of the very few ways, but they were not just something every child infected with polio could get into. Iron lungs caused a lot of financial trouble considering money was scarce back in the 1800s. A fraction of the people that were either infected or had symptoms of polio most likely died. More than six thousand

deaths occurred in an era of time. In fact, a plethora of families after finding out to they had been exposed or infected with polio, gave up on finding a cure and waited to see how long they could make it. Throughout the United States and many other countries in the world. Thousands of cases of poliomyelitis were reported in twentysix states. People had to keep themselves and their children away from places that could possibly of had the slightest touch of sewage or bacteria that could have carried polio symptoms. The states that had the worst epidemics of polio were commonly places that had poor hygienic conditions. Many people got polio from bad hygiene. Because so little could be done to prevent the poliovirus, the epidemics spread throughout the nation like a wildfire. Life was a complete misery for those with the poliovirus before the vaccine was invented. If the vaccine had not been invented, it would never of changed history. (jonas-salk.org)

As mentioned above, in times when the polio vaccine was not around, people everywhere were suffering in pain and misery. Dr. Jonas Salk attended the Pittsburgh Medical School at the time and was given a chance to do two new things. Salks goals were to finish his current research on influenza and to start looking for a cure for polio. Jonas Salk from that point devoted his next couple years of life to looking for a poliomyelitis vaccine. If Salk never had gotten that chance to start something new, like looking for a vaccine that might do away with polio, he might never of changed history.

Different vaccines were made to kill polio. Around the late 1940s, Jonas Salk developed his first well-known vaccine. Salks vaccine called IPV stood for Inactivated Polio Vaccine. IPV were created with non-infectious matters that included non-living particles in parts or whole viruses. That vaccine was used to control people with AIDS that had not been around people with HIV. The IPV was a successful vaccine that was used for many years. Much of the United States cases of polio dropped when people started to get injections of IPV. The inactivated vaccine could be mixed with other childhood immunizations with only the slightest amount of injection. The second polio vaccine that Jonas Salk invented was called the OPV, or Oral Polio Vaccine. Unlike the IPV, the oral vaccine injected particles of the virus into the patient. Doctors still give their patients OPV as well as other oral vaccines. OPV was used on people because their body would grow resistant to the virus and know how to get rid of it when symptoms appear. The oral polio vaccine was invented a few years after the inactivated vaccine and was used in many places to do away with polio. Once the oral polio vaccine was introduced, it was the most common vaccine for polio and that is what people started to be injected with. Many years passed and doctors were still using OPV. After 40 solid years doctors suddenly made a remarkable switch of vaccines and began using the IPV rather than OPV. Jonas Salk, as well as other doctors realized that switching the vaccines would be a great idea because more and more cases of the poliovirus were being reported from using the vaccine that injected a part of the virus in you. After using the IPV once again, reports of the disease were brought down. The two polio vaccines that Jonas Salk created were the OPV and IPV. Both were made to prevent and almost

kill the poliovirus. Most things got better after the vaccine was introduced and that is how it changed history in such a giant way. (polioplace.org)

As you can see, different vaccines were made to do away with polio. One of the vaccines was called the IPV, which was invented before the OPV, which was introduced not long after. Without IPV, OPV would never have been invented. If the OPV were never invented, then doctors would have to give society the IPV for the 40 years the OPV was given. The switch in vaccines was necessary because if a disease gets to immune to a vaccine, the vaccine will stop working. Therefore, civilization needed the small change in vaccines. With the invention of the vaccines, many peoples lives were changed. A lot of the everyday pain and suffering dissolved. If Jonas Salk never had invented the two polio vaccines, oral and inactive, he nor the polio vaccine would have ever changed history.

When the polio vaccines were introduced, it changed peoples lives and the way they lived on a daily basis. The amount of cases of polio dropped dramatically after the people vaccine was invented. It was bizarre how many cases reports were lowering each year. 2,525 cases dwindled after the polio vaccine was established. Less and less children each year was being brought into hospitals. A maximum of 60 cases of polio occurred one year, and from there, the reports slowly dropped. On average, around 100 cases of polio appear in the United States. Parents no longer live in fear that their child might get polio. Almost perfect hygiene and living conditions were required to not be infected by polio before the vaccine came out.

But afterwards, parents did not have to warn their children as frequently to stay away from ponds or sick animals. Many adults found themselves much more laid back after realizing that their children have a lot less of a chance of developing symptoms or being infected with the poliovirus. In the United States, Jonas Salks invention of the polio vaccine just about eradicated the disease. In civilizations today, there are not hospitals filled with polio infected children or very many people dying. Every once in a while a newspaper heading may say, Polio Kills Young Boy, but that would be very rare to see. The United States has the technology and money to research the poliovirus and its cures. Therefore, the country has basically gotten rid of it. When the polio vaccine was introduced, it impacted on many peoples lives and the way they lived. Because this happened, Jonas Salk and his vaccine introduction changed history. (achievement.org)

Clearly, when the polio vaccine was introduced, it changed peoples lives all around the nation. The OPV and IPV were both a relief to children and adults that had been exposed or infected with polio. The disease is partially gone in the United States, but in other Third World Countries such as Iraq, and Pakistan, the disease is as strong as ever. Saying this, it could easily spread to many other places causing more epidemics and infections. Polio has many effects on people that may cause them to not get vaccinated. Without the invention of the polio vaccine, society might never gotten rid of polio and society would never have to be scared that it will

comeback because it would always be there. This is why the polio vaccine changed history.

People now a days are more aware of the polio vaccine and its effects. Some parents are waiting much longer than usual to vaccinate their children because of how their body might react to the vaccine. Polio may make a comeback from all these things that are happening with people and their actions to polio and the vaccine. The first few months to up to a year of an infant's life, they still have there, others antibodies, which allow them to be disease, free until old enough to grow out of the antibodies. When a baby grows out of the antibodies and their parent still waits to get the child a polio vaccination, they are increasing the child's risk of polio. Children are the main carriers of polio and catch it much easier than adults do. Some parents are not getting their children vaccinated at all because of what polio may link too. Autism is a disorder that happens often in children. Rarely, when children are vaccinated with the polio vaccine, their body doesnt react good to it. This sometimes causes autism to occur. Parents around modern day civilization don't want their kid to have autism because it may cause them to be "different than everyone else". When people dont get the vaccine because they know that it could lead to other problems, the polio disease can easily infect them. Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, most of Africa, Latin America, and Asia are all Third World Countries. Those countries do not have the knowledge or money to have vaccinations for many diseases including polio. Polio can spread across the world easily, but the worst part is, the troops. United States troops are being pulled from Third World

Countries without thinking about being infected by the poliovirus. Since so many troops are being sent over, who knows how many are being vaccinated when brought home to the Untied States? The symptoms of polio show up around thirty days after being exposed to the virus, and that gives the troops enough time to infect others. With all the excuses people have to get the polio vaccine, and the troops being pulled from under knowledge of vaccines, polio might make a future comeback. (polio.emedtv.com)

All in all, the polio vaccine invented by Jonas Salk, changed the way the United States reacted to the epidemic of polio. Without the vaccine, the United States would have frequent children hospitalized and parents living in fear. When the vaccine was introduced, it changed the United States and history. The poliovirus is a dreadful disease that can cause people to lose limbs and paralyze parts of their body. The vaccine led to happier families that would not have to live in misery of their kids getting infected with polio. If all children were vaccinated with the vaccine throughout the world, polio could possibly be eradicated. Unfortunately, that wont happen. Jonas Salk changed history by inventing the polio vaccine.