Polio

by Thomas M. Daniel (Editor)

Polio is a collection of essays written by nine people who experienced the disease in several ways - those who suffered, their care-givers, and those who worked to destroy this scourge. An opening chapter recounts the history of polio from its earliest depiction in Egyptian art to the present day. Three personal essays recount the experiences of patients who were paralyzed in youth by polio but survived and built successful lives despite the handicaps with which they were afflicted. The challenges of caring for patients with polio are described by two physicians who worked on polio wards in the United States during the great epidemic years of the 1950s. The story of the cultivation of poliovirus - a Nobel Prize-winning accomplishment - and the testing of the resulting vaccine is told by two research scientists who devoted much of their careers to the laboratories where these breakthroughs were achieved. The last two essays - by senior members of the Pan-American Health Organization - describe the monumental public health vaccination programs undertaken throughout Latin America that ultimately led to the successful eradication of polio from the Western Hemisphere in 1994.

Genres: Science

202 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 1997

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting little book. It is a series of essays by people who experienced polio, cared for victims of it or were involved in the research of the disease. The first-hand accounts of experiencing polio really put me into that time period of the early 1950's when the US experienced a several-year period of widespread polio epidemics just before the arrival of the Salk vaccine. The detailed descriptions of the "iron lung" had me gasping for air. It made me very glad to have been born when the vaccine was available.