Polio cases in US states, before and after introduction of the polio vaccine graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d... - ThreadSky

conradhackett.bsky.social • 76 days ago

Polio cases in US states, before and after introduction of the polio vaccine
https://graphics.wsj.com/infectious-diseases-and-vaccines/

Comments

sandrasrn.bsky.social•76 days ago

It seems absurd that this is even a conversation…

gscl.bsky.social•76 days ago

📌

whyfly.bsky.social•76 days ago

My mom tells me she knew kids growing up who'd suffered from it. Just amazing that we've lived with the privilege of not having it around for so long that some are losing the ability to recall why.

What happened in 1945-1955? Was it brought back from WW2? The suburbs? Something else?

patrickrogers.bsky.social•76 days ago

This is totally a guess, but I assume it's the post WWII baby boom. Polio mainly 5 affects young children, so the high number of births immediately after the war would lead to a similar increase in the number of polio cases.

kmagnacca.bsky.social•76 days ago

Ironically, it may actually be a case of lost herd immunity: antibodies can be passed from mother to infant, so if you got it very early along with that it's usually mild. With cleaner water in the early 1900s, more people were never getting infected or getting it later in childhood.

kmagnacca.bsky.social•76 days ago

Just to be clear, this is not a suggestion to expose everyone to polio again! But don't be surprised if the crazies take that up.

whyfly.bsky.social•76 days ago

I mean, Salk came up with a system for safely exposing people to polio and it clearly worked pretty well, hope we can hold on to that collective memory.

frozzbot.bsky.social•76 days ago

📌

athornton.bsky.social•76 days ago

I can see my mom in it! (she survived and is fine, except she's always been shaky on her 7s and 8s multiplication tables because that was school she missed)

I guess next RFK is going to suggest letting smallpox out of its government vials so it can run around and stretch its legs a bit.

1836republic.bsky.social•76 days ago

Did the vaccine for smallpox change at some point? Chart says introduced in 1800 but it sure took a long time was that because of availability or advances in the vaccine or both?

pfluegerlaw.bsky.social•76 days ago

📌

spitandvinegar.bsky.social•76 days ago

Wall St can’t wait to invest in iron lungs.

joanmcrobbie.bsky.social•76 days ago

Miraculous. Unimaginable that anyone would be idiotic and malevolent enough to want to block vaccines that have freed us of so much pain & suffering.

theseneschal.bsky.social•76 days ago

We defragged polio from the country.

chrisjmac.bsky.social•76 days ago

I’m not saying that the water actually put the fire out, but after the water there was surprisingly a little fire…

jimbo75.bsky.social•76 days ago

And, JFK Jr is about to cancel ALL vaccines when he becomes Health Manager .

rustyfoxfyre.bsky.social•76 days ago

RFK

y2skot.bsky.social•76 days ago

One can’t make the data easier to access than a chart like this. How can so many embrace the stupidity of science deniers?

joeyheroin.bsky.social•76 days ago

people believe because they want to, it's backed up by social media and algorithms and then cognitive dissonance takes over. the world has truly gone bananas.

drjmf.bsky.social•76 days ago

Source?

richschu.bsky.social•76 days ago

Click the link

floridadab.bsky.social•76 days ago

Is there a greater gift to humanity than what scientists have given us in vaccines? How about the dude smart enough to figure out how to deal with smallpox in the late 1700’s!

But hey, instead let’s listen to RFK, Trump, and elontrumplove69 on X - they were on Joe Rogan after all.

thedanadecker.bsky.social•75 days ago

The case rate increased faster than the population did after 1948.

The Internet tells me: "The [polio] epidemic reached its peak in the early 1950s, climbing to 37 cases per 100,000 in 1952."

Not only did vaccines reduce cases, they did so when the polio situation might have gotten *much* worse.

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