#ResistanceRoots Today in history, 1954: The Salk polio vaccine field trials begin at Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Va. More than 1.6 million children in the U.S., Canada and Finland participated, making it one of the largest clinical trials ever conducted. /1 - ThreadSky

bambooshooti.bsky.social • 1 day ago

#ResistanceRoots

Today in history, 1954: The Salk polio vaccine field trials begin at Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Va. More than 1.6 million children in the U.S., Canada and Finland participated, making it one of the largest clinical trials ever conducted. /1

Comments

bampies.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Great Post
Thanks

bampies.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Miracle medicine

dreamgrid.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Polio is caused by a virus that is passed in fecal matter. The lack of flush toilets allowed you g children to get it and not get hurt by it.

it was only until the invention of the flush toilet that older people and young adults would get it, which can be quite deadly

Src.. Patenting The Sun

kgsla.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I got shot in school; had to go back the next year for another shot. Probably in control group. My mother thought I had mild case of polio. Said I was crawling fine snd then started dragging one leg but that after a few months, it seemed to mend itself. I remember kids in class who had polio.

bambooshooti.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Thank you for sharing that personal reflection. 💙

rbw523.bsky.social•1 day ago

At the time and as a kid, I didn't immediately understand the importance of the vaccine. But I was aware of those people living in iron lungs and that scared the crap out of me. I was glad to get vaccinated!

marcorobbin.bsky.social•1 day ago

I don’t think I ever heard of anyone rejecting the polio vaccine until now.

“RFK Jr key adviser petitioned regulators to revoke approval of polio vaccine” -Guardian

This idiot is the head of the US healthcare system.

hikingwnc.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Science is pretty amazing

tjcatskills.bsky.social•1 day ago

And meanwhile "Kennedy Disease" AKA "Kennedy Sickness" continues to erupt all across the US.

tangle24.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Vaccines work

lionkuntz.bsky.social•1 day ago

bambooshooti.bsky.social•1 day ago

Polio is an infectious disease that occurs primarily in children, often resulting in paralysis. It had reached epidemic proportions in the early 20th century and was associated with the “iron lung” that was used to help those with respiratory paralysis breathe. /2

bambooshooti.bsky.social•1 day ago

Salk tested the vaccine on himself and his family before conducting the trials, in which the double-blind method was first used. Neither the doctor nor the patient knew if the inoculation was the vaccine or a placebo. /3

bambooshooti.bsky.social•1 day ago

Researchers deemed the vaccine safe and 80% to 90% effective on 12 Apr 1955, and it quickly became part of standard childhood immunizations. By 1957, annual cases dropped from 58,000 to 5,600, and by 1961, only 161 cases were reported. /4

bambooshooti.bsky.social•1 day ago

Salk never patented the vaccine, famously asking, “Could you patent the sun?” He understood that low- and no-cost vaccines were key to eliminating the disease. Polio was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 1979, but there have been a few cases in unvaccinated people. /end