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First Case of Polio in the United States
This epidemic was the first the world had seen of polio and it occurred in the United States. Eighteen deaths occurred and 132 cases of paralysis were reported because of the virus. Polio was hard to spot sometimes because some children experienced paralysis and others did not. The world had just started their long battle with a virus doctors knew little about. The first steps were to figure out the virus before doctors created a vaccine. -
First Oral Vaccine Created (OPV)
An oral vaccine was created and is what most children took as their vaccine opposed to a shot. Since there are three types of poliovirus, this vaccine was immune to all. The vaccine was inexpensive and can be spread to others in close contact. Also, this vaccine could be administered by anyone, they did not have to be a doctor or have any specific certifications. This breakthrough is significant because it saved the lives of many children that contained or were at risk of the poliovirus. -
PolioPlus is Launched
PolioPlus was the first and largest internationally coordinated private-sector support of a public health initiative. Launching PolioPlus allowed children to receive the poliovirus vaccine even if they were in poor areas of the world. PolioPlus received an initial pledge of 120 million dollars in order to help the most amount of children. The community got involved to help the children of the future, by eliminating the poliovirus for good, and in a few years areas were certified polio free. -
Eradication with Vaccinations
The World Heath Organization (WHO) helped multiple countries including America, Europe and China eradicate the poliovirus. They helped eradicate the poliovirus by providing the OPV to multiple children in different parts of the world. With the help of WHO 80 million children were vaccinated in China and the United States became certified polio free. Without the help of WHO, the eradication process would have been a lot longer because many children did not have access to the vaccination before. -
WHO European Region is Polio Free
The poliovirus finally was eradicated in Europe after more than one hundred years of paralysis in children. This event is significant because it marks the end of a revolution with a virus. The virus invaded local lymphoid tissue, enters the bloodstream, and then it may infect cells of the central nervous system. Many years of suffering is finally over and now children and their parents can live in peace and not have to worry about their child becoming paralyzed because of a virus.
