October 28 – Great Strides Against Polio

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nSecond, on this date in 1956, world-famous singer Elvis Presley got a polio vaccination on television. Believe it or not, this televised vaccine is credited with raising immunization levels in the U.S. from just 0.6% of the population to 80% of the population – IN JUST SIX MONTHS!!
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nPolio is a crippling and often deadly disease caused by a virus. It is infectious – it spreads from person to person. It can invade a person’s brain and spinal chord, and that often results in paralysis – which means not being able to move parts of your body.
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Before polio was eradicated in most of the world, seeing lots of kids and adults with wasted-away legs, crutches, and wheelchairs was common. Polio victims who could no longer breathe on own often used an iron lung (below).

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One of the most famous victims of polio is President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He often hid his paralysis from sight and was rarely publicly seen in his wheelchair.

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nThe disease is preventable with the polio vaccine, and most the world is pretty much polio-free, now. Experts hope that this disease will be totally gone next year!
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Unfortunately, now that many diseases are rare in developed nations, many parents have decided without good evidence that vaccinations are bad for kids, that they don’t work, and that they are just a way for “Big Pharma” to get more money. None of that is true, and if such anti-vax parents convince many other parents to skip vaccinations, we may have out- breaks of almost eradicated illnesses. Which would be so sad!

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The answer to this question is, of course, that science as a whole and most scientists CAN be trusted. The methods of science are the best way humans have ever come up with to discover what is true.

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nAlso on this date:

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nFoundation of the Independent Czechoslovak State