Jonas Salk: The Man Who Saved the Children

By JIM PURCELL

There are few things that everyone can feel universally grateful for the world over. Whether it is a religion (not everyone has the same religion), a war having a successful ending (or an unsuccessful ending for some) or even the rise of a great company (as great companies tend to put other companies out of business). Yet, there is one marvel that all the world can agree was a milestone we can all be thankful for, and that is the creation of the polio vaccine by Dr. Jonas Salk (1914-1995), in 1952.

Dr. Jonas Salk

Poliomyelitis, known also as infantile paralysis or simply polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Poliovirus is usually spread from person to person through infected fecal matter entering the mouth, and it can be spread through both food and water. Usually, polio struck the legs. However, there have been cases historically where weakness occurs in the muscles of the head, neck and diaphragm. Up to five percent of children and 30 percent of adults who acquired the disease died.

Cases of polio were first recorded in Ancient Egypt. It struck every corner of the world. During 1950 in the United States, 58,000 people a year acquired polio and, of that number, more than 3,000 people died, while a far greater number were left disabled for the rest of their lives.

Then came Dr. Jonas Salk.

In 1947, Dr. Salk took a polio and infantile paralysis research position at the University of Pittsburgh. By 1951, Dr. Salk identified three distinct types of polio virus and, in 1951, he used polio samples from his laboratory to create a "killer virus" that destroyed virulent forms of the disease. He answered a riddle that had been plaguing mankind for tens of thousands of years.

Preliminary testing for the polio vaccine began in 1952. By 1955, the vaccine was approved by general use. Today, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, there are about 100 cases of polio worldwide. However, it took many years for some countries to permit doctors there to use the vaccine, which was why, in 1988, there were more than 350,000 cases worldwide. Unfortunately, though the polio vaccine does prevent polio in healthy people, once someone has acquired some strains of the disease there is no specific protocol for a cure.

After Dr. Salk's revolutionary discovery, he opened the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, in La Jolla, California, and that center continues today, dedicated to medical research.

Dr. Salk was a graduate of City Colleges of New York, New York University and the University of Michigan.