#vaccineswork

Instructing nurses on use of an iron lung for a polio patient, 5/23/1958. Online here.

POLIO STRIKES BACK By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

Child at "French clinic for polio victims" , Marshall Plan records, NARA ID 19992258.

Like COVID, polio is an infectious disease that once terrorized people worldwide and led to quarantines, shutdowns, illness and death. Some polio patients relied on not ventilators to breathe but an “iron lung” - a large pressurized cylinder wherein victims would lie and oxygen would be drawn into the person’s lungs by creating a vacuum.

Polio timeline: 1894-1st documented US Polio epidemic 1921 - FDR contracts polio at age 39 (see FDR and Polio) 1954- Salk polio vaccine trials begin for 1.8 million children. 1955 - Scientists deem polio vaccine safe and effective. 1979 - Polio considered "eliminated" from the US thanks to widespread polio vaccination.

But IT'S BACK. 2022 - CDC announces (9/13/22) polio cases in New York.

Patient in an iron lung, USAF # A52930AC, NARA ID 204964233.

Student Robert Henninger gets the polio vaccine in 1954. Photo by Getty Images.

President Eisenhower’s support for the vaccine drive (NARA ID 12166372).

WW2 drawing by Charles Henry Alston for the Office of War Information. NARA ID 535617.

Prescription for FDR's leg braces that includes his note that the braces don’t fit, 7/5/1926. FDR Family records, FDR Library.

One president was directly affected by polio - FDR, who contracted polio while on vacation in 1921 at age 39 and became paralyzed from the waist down. While he hid this condition from the public, for the rest of his life he tried to find a way to rehabilitate himself and others afflicted with infantile paralysis. He established the March of Dimes on January 3, 1938, with the original name "National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis."

More online:

FDR and Polio, FDR Library

POLIO Vaccine Trials began #OTD 1954

Letter from FDR to Dr. Egleston Regarding his Polio Attack

WORLD IMMUNIZATION WEEK

FLASHBACK: How NOT to Promote Vaccines

The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency, FDR Library program with James Tobin

https://x.com/VeryBadLlama/status/1788335454451876221

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A. The ACIP recommends adults ≥60 years may receive a single dose RSV vaccine using shared clinical decision-making. As part of this discussion, providers and patients should consider the patient’s risk for severe RSV-associated disease. Persons aged ≥60 years who are at highest risk for severe RSV disease and who might be most likely to benefit from vaccination include those with the following chronic medical conditions:

• Lung disease (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma)

• Cardiovascular diseases (such as congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease)

• Moderate or severe immune compromise

• Diabetes mellitus

• Neurologic or neuromuscular conditions

• Kidney disorders

• Liver disorders

• Hematologic disorders

***Adults aged ≥60 years who are residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are also at risk for severe RSV disease.

Optimally, vaccination should occur before the onset of the RSV season. Coadministration of RSV vaccines with other adult vaccines during the same visit is acceptable.