Polio

[lugg]

I was fortunate enough to have had the vaccine as a child but some childhood friends of mine born just a short while before were not so lucky. Now it is in the news again in the UK

www.gov.uk/government/news/all-children-aged-1-to-9-in-london-to-be-offered-a-dose-of-polio-vaccine

news.sky.com/story/all-london-children-aged-one-to-nine-to-be-offered-polio-vaccine-dose-after-more-virus-found-in-sewers-12669815

Sometimes it seems that we may become complacent about what now seem to be innocuous diseases from the past. But I also remember an outbreak of diphtheria in Nottingham when I was working there as a paediatric nurse in the 80s.

[bixaorellana]

I was in the first wave of children in the US to receive the Salk vaccine. Luckily, I lived in the southeast at that time, so was not among the group in the west & midwest which received the faulty vaccine from Cutter laboratory.

Because polio was such a source of fear when I was little, I vividly remember seeing photos of people in iron lungs, something which filled me with horror. An iron lung appears in one of Flannery O'Connor's stories from 1954, A Circle in the Fire. The March of Dimes was also something even children knew about. The consciousness of debilitating or deadly disease being wiped out with a miracle vaccine has stayed with me forever.

[questa]

I may have told you this story before...if so...sorry.

In my city , early 50s, the kids in iron lungs were all together in a large ward...about 50 of them. The hospital was on the outskirts of town not far from the new jail. One day the electricity cut out and the lungs had to be hand operated...a tiring and time consuming job. They contacted the prison and a bus load of petty crims was soon pumping the machinery. This went on and off for weeks and each side had favourites. No-one tried to escape and the prisoners were more relaxed and happy.

[kerouac2]

The talk (and the photos!) of iron lungs when I was a child were just as scary as the threat of atomic bombs from the Soviet Union.

[questa]

Parents in that era had to tread a fine line to ensure that their kids got immunised without terror. Then they had to reassure the kids about Nuclear warfare when they themselves were terrified. No wonder those generations led to the creation and rapid development of what are now called "Mental Health" issues.

[bixaorellana]

I'm willing to bet there have been mental health issues as long as there have been human beings.

[kerouac2]

Time to bring the iron lungs out of retirement?

Polio likely spreading in New York City

[lugg]

Aug 11, 2022 14:41:43 GMT kerouac2 said:

he talk (and the photos!) of iron lungs when I was a child were just as scary as the threat of atomic bombs from the Soviet Union

The 4 minute warning fims still stay with me and I can remember being scared of sirens as a child.

Aug 12, 2022 18:57:01 GMT kerouac2 said:

Polio likely spreading in New York City

It is scary but all we need to do is vaccinate - although I have read that the polio virus is also mutating which is concerning.

Aug 11, 2022 14:28:44 GMT questa said:

They contacted the prison and a bus load of petty crims was soon pumping the machinery. This went on and off for weeks and each side had favourites. No-one tried to escape and the prisoners were more relaxed and happy.

That is a heart warming story Questa.

Aug 10, 2022 21:46:44 GMT bixaorellana said:

The consciousness of debilitating or deadly disease being wiped out with a miracle vaccine has stayed with me forever.

Me too