Polio Flashcards
What causes polio?
human enterovirus: poliomyelitis
Who does it affect?
mostly infants and young children
25% show small symptoms
1% cases the disease spread into the CNS and can cause paralysis.
how was it an endemic disease?
a majority of people were infected, but there was very little awareness of the disease
Polio after 1860
shifted from endemic to epidemic
first epidemic was in Vermont - referred to as infantile paralysis.
becomes more popular in Europe in the 20th century
how did the sanitary transformation affect Polio cases?
kids who lived in a sanitary environment with no polio exposure were more likely to get a severe outcome as an adult.
Polio in 1916 USA
nationwide from July - October
started in NYC
- 80% of cases were kids under 5
- homes were quarintined, public spaces were closed, traveling for children was regulated
spread of Polio
Began in Pig town - Italian community in NYC
less widespread in populated areas
spread more in affulent rich areas with a rich sanitary reform (staten island)
FDR
Franklin Delano Roosevelt got polio at 39 years old while he was visiting the bay of fundy
developed symptoms of infantile paralysis
he masked his disablity in public
many wealthy and upper/middle class people got the disease
his sickness was important because he used his conditons to advocate fundraisers for the research of polio
March of dimes
Raised funds to support care and people affected by polio
financing became widespread to develop polio vaccines after WW2
Polio & disabilities
many people were left paralized or with a disability
required medical support, treatment, assistance
When did outbreaks usually happen?
in the summer - kids were kept away from public places
in the 30’s and 40’s, infants with polio were stricly immobilized, straped down to increase the change of recovery
Elisabeth Kenny
promoted new ideas about treatment
said that exercise and physiotherapy would help people
What was the Iron Lungs?
a tank made for a person who needed help breathing due to the acute causes of polio: paralized and restricted in the lungs
it pushed and pulled on their dipphram.
hard to cough and eat
Challenges of polio
- it was caused by an invisable virus that could not be seen without the technology of the microscope
- it was hard to keep the disease alive in the lab because it is a primate disease (humans & monkeys)
How did scientists use Monkeys for the research of Polio?
they would inject the virus into the brain of a monkey, (thought that the paralytic effects was from the brain) harvest the diseased material from the dead monkeys to study and inject into other monkeys.
it was hard to work with monkeys because they were expensive and had to be exported
