Polio

My first two girls were born in 1968 and 1973. Oldest got the smallpox vaccine,younger one didn`t. The thought of smallpox making a comeback is pretty darn scary.
 

I remember the Polio scare. I remember when the vaccine finally came out.. It was given on a sugar cube... at the local bank. Parents and kids were lined up around the block waiting to be vaccinated... such was the fear.. My mother was very worried.. particularly in the summer.. No public swimming pools or drinking fountains for me.

The first vaccine to come out was given by injection. Sugar cube vaccines came out a little later-I`ll have to check what year.
 
The first vaccine to come out was given by injection. Sugar cube vaccines came out a little later-I`ll have to check what year.

Could be.... I really can't remember. I may have had the shot.. BUT what I know was that my mother took me as soon as it was available.. Memory fades a tad after 60 years. I would have been only 6 in 1955. But I do remember standing in line outside the Bank.. and being scared.. lol!!
 

Early 60`s it says the "sugar cube" vaccine was first used. I`ll bet you did have the shots-several in fact. I so remember getting them-mostly because everybody else cried and I never did lol. Our elementary school was transitioning from an old school to a new building up the street. The nurse`s office was located in the new building. So they would walk us all up the street to get our shots.
 
I received the test vaccine in April 1954 in one of the selected grade schools testing the vaccine. There were 600,000 school age children tested. In June 1954 I was staying at my cousins house 60 miles from home and came down with what my parents, aunt & uncle thought was the flu. I had every symptom, nausea, joint pain, head ache. My aunt asked me to touch my chin on my chest and couldn't. My father picked me up and after a painful ride home they took me to the doctor. He took tests and identified the disease as polio.
 
Early 60`s it says the "sugar cube" vaccine was first used. I`ll bet you did have the shots-several in fact. I so remember getting them-mostly because everybody else cried and I never did lol. Our elementary school was transitioning from an old school to a new building up the street. The nurse`s office was located in the new building. So they would walk us all up the street to get our shots.


I remember getting shots in school.... Because Michael Sullivan was standing behind me and puked in my hair.
 
I got shots for every disease known to man in the service (overseas shots marathon). All at one time...was sore for days.

Before Uganda we went to see the nurse once a week for weeks. DPT, hepatitis Aand B, meningitis, rabies series of 3, yellow fever, and a few more. Ouch.
 
Before Uganda we went to see the nurse once a week for weeks. DPT, hepatitis Aand B, meningitis, rabies series of 3, yellow fever, and a few more. Ouch.

AHHH... Yellow fever... I'll never catch that... I've had West Nile.. and my ID doc told me it provides immunity to yellow fever.. who knew.. lol!
 
Polio. Yeah, I remember that disease, iron lungs, braces and a lot of heartache for those that suffered with it. I got the shots while in school like most kids. That's back when they had the long thick needles that felt like it was going through my arm. Then itched like crazy, but it was better than taking a risk.
 
Salk vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk at the Salk institute in San Diego. By the time it came around I was an adult but it brought a horrible crippling disease to an end. I lived in San Diego most of my life and it has many places of medical discovery including Scripps.
 
Salk vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk at the Salk institute in San Diego. By the time it came around I was an adult but it brought a horrible crippling disease to an end. I lived in San Diego most of my life and it has many places of medical discovery including Scripps.

According to the documentary that I watched, Salk developed his vaccine at the University of Pittsburgh. WOW! The Smithsonian Channel was wrong on that one.
 
Polio was a very much dreaded disease during my childhood, and yes, it could be fatal. A 14-year old girl in my class died of it, very suddenly. I think they called it bulbar polio, and it paralyzed the breathing organs. The Salk and Sabin vaccines were wonderful medications. One less horrible thing for parents to worry about.
 
I remember always going for regular checkups getting shots, watching my big brother scream for bloody murder when his turn came around, of course then, I wasn't aware when the shot was coming. Later when I was aware, around age 9-10 it sometimes took a couple to three people to hold me down to administer my shots. :cry: I wasn't a happy camper, but, I received my vaccinations back in the mid to late 60's. However, I do recall either having the mumps or measles, I can't remember which, sometime before age 8.
 
AHHH... Yellow fever... I'll never catch that... I've had West Nile.. and my ID doc told me it provides immunity to yellow fever.. who knew.. lol!

Where did you catch West Nile virus?

I felt like a pin cushion before going to Uganda! We also had a typhoid vaccination. Had to get a booster before Thailand.
 
I remember always going for regular checkups getting shots, watching my big brother scream for bloody murder when his turn came around, of course then, I wasn't aware when the shot was coming. Later when I was aware, around age 9-10 it sometimes took a couple to three people to hold me down to administer my shots. :cry: I wasn't a happy camper, but, I received my vaccinations back in the mid to late 60's. However, I do recall either having the mumps or measles, I can't remember which, sometime before age 8.

I had chicken pox and measles around ages 5 and 6. I remember being put in a dark room with the measles. With one of those I kept screaming bloody murder so my mom would phone the doctor and when he got to the house I'd stop screaming. Never had mumps.
 
I had chicken pox and measles around ages 5 and 6. I remember being put in a dark room with the measles. With one of those I kept screaming bloody murder so my mom would phone the doctor and when he got to the house I'd stop screaming. Never had mumps.

Maybe it was chicken pox, it was so long ago, I just remember like you and Pappy, being, bumpy, red and miserable, but I can't recall exactly which of the illnesses it was.
 
I remember being so darn sick with the measles.. Fever, and big knots (swollen lymph nodes) behind my ears.. and just weak and tired.

I had what I can only describe as a Chicken POCK.... one... a single POX on my chest.. They put me to bed and kept me warm and waited for the rest to erupt, but they never did. However, years later when I had my varicella titer done for nursing school, I had immunity to CHicken Pox.. so I guess that one little blister did the trick.
 
This was the dreaded machine. It did keep one alive though. Does anyone recall if you were in it for life or did you get better after lung treatment. I don't remember.

Just being put in that machine had to be terrifying for some. How long did they have to be in there, like how many hours at a time? During one of my MRI's that I had on my back, there was a lady in another MRI and she started yelling for the nurse to get her out of there. She was really upset and was screaming and yelling. She was only in it for a few minutes and couldn't stand being enclosed. It takes about 45 minutes for my back MRI and I had headphones on listening to music with the station of my choice. Towards the end, I started to feel a little claustrophobic myself, but didn't mind it much.
 
Where did you catch West Nile virus?

I felt like a pin cushion before going to Uganda! We also had a typhoid vaccination. Had to get a booster before Thailand.

We had a huge outbreak of West Nile here in the States... I had it in the summer of 2002. I felt achy.. tired. I had huge lymph nodes behind my ears and I broke out in a blotchy rash.. Funny thing. My ID doc also had it that same summer. Fortunately, I was healthy and was only sick about a week.. it also never developed into a respiratory problem..
 
I may have missed it in the thread, but does anyone know what causes Polio? I was thinking that whatever it is, is still around. I guess I think of viruses coming and going, but an anti-virus isn't a cure right? I mean, it stops and saves lives, but it doesn't take away the source of polio. There must be people out there trying to find and eliminate the source, but again, I don't have a clue what that source is.
 
It is caused by a virus, poliovirus, and is very contagious. Young children are more apt to get it as it can be transfered through human feces. It attacks ones brain or spinal cord and affects the nervous system. Lungs and legs are often affected.
 


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