Shropshire Routes to Roots

6. Poliomyelitis

Introduction

For a major part of the 20th century the one disease which spread panic amongst people in the western world was polio. This disease was never a killer on the scale of other diseases but the reason people were so scared of this disease was because it often maimed people, especially children.

What is polio?

The term poliomyelitis derives from the Greek words, 'polios' meaning 'grey' and 'myelos' meaning 'matter' and refers to the grey matter of the spinal cord. The disease was often called by other names including: the crippler; dental paralysis; essential paralysis of children; infantile spinal paralysis; and paralysis of the morning, which refers to the way in which children would go to bed apparently healthy and wake up feverish in the night and then are unable to get up the next morning.

What caused the spread of polio?

Polio is caused by a virus. There is still some mystery over how the virus is spread. There is a belief that the virus is spread through contract with faeces of an infected person. Before the arrival of modern sewage treatment plants, most people came into contact with the disease and developed immunity to it. Once sewage systems were improved people no longer came into contact with the disease and stopped developing antibodies against it. This theory does not explain why the impact of the disease in America fluctuated and showed no relation to improvements in sewage systems.

Another mystery surrounding polio is why the number of cases were higher in the summer months, compared with the other months of the year. The disease was 35 times more likely in August than in April. Some people believe that the transmission of the disease favoured the warm, moist weather of the summer months. But again this still remains a mystery to this day.

Polio awareness poster Larger image, in a new window [46kb] [Shropshire Archives]

How did the Disease affect the sufferer?

Not all the victims of polio suffered paralysis. A large portion of victims suffered with mild respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms or from headaches, fever and muscle stiffness. These symptoms would only last for a few days and in some cases they would be so mild that the victim would not realize they were ill, as a result other people became exposed to the virus.
In a small number of cases the virus did penetrate the central nervous system causing major illness or 'true polio'. In these cases the neurons (nerve cells) in the spinal core and brain were affected. This resulted in tightness in the neck, back, hamstring muscles and also various degrees of muscle weakness, as paralysis set in. There was not a cure for polio but most victims did experience improvement in muscle strength and control after the acute infection subsided. Though in most cases the motor neurons were left severely damaged or completely destroyed resulting in permanent weakness and paralysis, mostly the lower part of the body.

How were sufferers treated?

The treatment of polio sufferers have changed over the years. In the 1920's saw the development and use of the 'iron lung'. This was a metal coffin-like structure that helped the polio victim to breathe. In the beginning polio sufferers had their affected limbs bandaged and bound up. This method of treatment was not only found to be ineffective but it was likely to result in more severe paralysis.

The Creation of a Vaccine

By 1938 scientists knew that polio was caused by a virus and after several years of research three types or strains of the virus were discovered.
After a great deal of work a vaccine was discovered. A medical scientist at the University of Pittsburgh called Dr. Jonas E. Salk grew the three types of the viruses in test tubes. He then added a solution called mixture 199, containing vitamins and minerals, which caused the virus to multiply more than a million times in just a few days. He then killed the virus off with a solution called formaldehyde and finally made the vaccine from mixing the three strains of the virus together.

The vaccine was tested on children who had suffered from previous attacks of polio. Blood samples were analyzed and they found that the vaccine increased the amount of antibodies in their blood. In 1953 once Dr Salk was certain that the vaccine was safe and effective he gave shots to 160 children and adults in Pittsburgh. As a result of these tests five of the large drug manufacturers in the U.S began producing the vaccine. In 1954 a 'field trial' was carried out and over 400,000 children were given the vaccine. The success of this program indicated to the world that a vaccine against polio existed and widespread innoculation programs began resulting in a drop in the number of polio cases.

Polio still exists in the world in areas such as the Indian subcontinent and West and Central Africa. There is still no cure for people who contract the disease but there is a vaccine which prevents people contracting the disease.

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