Origins
Where does Polio first show up in History?
Polio was likely first seen in illustrations from Egypt dating back to 1400 BC of people with withered limbs and a dropped foot. Though there is no way of confirming if this is in fact a depiction of polio, many historians and scientists believe it to be seeing as it matches the disease's manifestations.
The etymology of the word Poliomyelitis comes from the Greek “polios” meaning gray, “muelos” meaning marrow, and “itis” for inflammation. Hence, meaning the inflammation of the gray matter in your spinal cord. Descriptions of clinical polio don't show up until the 16th century, likely because it was rarely epidemic due to poor sanitation meaning most people were exposed as children and had mild/no symptoms and developed immunity.
Beginning of Epidemics
When did Polio truly start to spread?
Epidemics began to be able to occur in the 20th century when sanitation measures greatly increased leaving populations not exposed and vulnerable. They started to strike in the late 19th and early 20th centuries first in Scandinavian countries and then US and Europe. It typically caused minor outbreaks in the US in the 1890s to the 1910s which resulted in a few hundred to a few thousand cases in which around 10% died and 40-50% were left paralyzed.
It really began to gain attention because it was wealthy and middle class white children who were being infected. Kids could go out to play, come home feverish and with body aches, and be dead or paralyzed in a matter of days.
As years passed, Polio was on the rise from a few hundred cases in the beginning to 27,000 fatal cases in 1916, the vast majority of which were children in the eastern US. Scientists also began to notice that it struck hardest in relatively wealthy regions with clean water and sanitation.
FDR
What impact did FDR have on Polio?
One of the most famous victims of Poliomyelitis is President FDR who contracted polio in the summer of 1921 at the age of 39. He lost all function in his legs and was ridiculed for this by his political rivals. He acted to hide his disability from the public view, having intricate leg braces designed and being careful to never be photographed in a wheelchair.
FDR helped to raise funds for polio foundations and created the warm springs foundation to raise money for polio patients. He also created the National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis. One of his first major stunts for the foundation was to have people mail dimes directly to the white house and this was so successful that $270,000 dollars worth of dimes were mailed to the white house. The national foundation of infantile paralysis then became known as the March of Dimes and still exists today. To honor his contribution to his cause his face was put on the dime in 1946 after his death.
Vaccines
When were the first polio vaccines created?
In the 1930’s, early vaccine trials would lead to dozens of children becoming paralyzed and dying. In research for developing a vaccine, a man by the name of John Enders discovered that the virus can be grown in tissue other than nervous tissue, like skin, muscle, or kidney tissue. This breakthrough would result in him winning the nobel prize.
The 2 most notable men working on the development for the vaccine were Albert Sabin and Jonas Salk, both of whom had their own personal issues and were a part of one of the most notable scientific rivalries of all time. In 1953, Salk announced that he had created a successful vaccine (which he had tested on polio afflicted and mentally disabled children), and he was celebrated overnight. Sabin, however, claimed his vaccine was not effective and that to fully grant immunity that last a live virus must be used and not a killed one. To validate Salk's vaccine the largest public health experiment in US history would take place, involving 1.3 million children. The vaccine was decided to be safe, effective, and potent. He decided to not patent the vaccine meaning it was free for all drug companies to manufacture and distribute. Some drug companies had better safety checks than others and one, Cutter Laboratories in California did not check their product well enough and it ended up containing some live virus which would infect 200, most were severely paralyzed and 11 died.
At this time Sabin's live vaccine was ready to be tested but the US was hesitant so he took it over to the Soviet Union where it would be tested in 10 million children. The Sabin vaccine eventually displaced Salk’s and seeing as it was a live weakened virus it was cheaper to produce and it was an oral vaccine unlike Salk’s which was an injection meaning you don't need a medical professional to administer it. It was also believed to be more effective and long lasting and to have broader protection.
However 3 in 100 million vaccinations would develop paralytic polio seeing as it was a live virus. It would continue to be used in the US even after Salk's son called it out, before finally returning to the Salk vaccine in 2000.