Polio

[sammason]

Here in Britain, people don't get polio any more. This wasn't always so - there are people in this comm whose close relatives were disabled by polio - but now, children are routinely vaccinated. It must be about 42 years since my own polio jab, except that I don't remember it being a jab! I remember being given a sugar lump on a spoon. Very

Comments

[londonbard]

You do have at least one polio survivor in the Community - and people should be so glad that disease is on its way out!

I had plans to write it about it in the near future anyway, but anyone interested might like to look up the Lincolnshire Polio site; there's quite a lot on record.

[sammason]

Here it is http://www.poliosurvivorsnetwork.org.uk/ Do please write your own perspective, if you want to.

[ammos]

I remember the drop on the sugarcube mostly because I hate the taste of pure sugar always have done though I don't know why. I spat it out and had to be given the drop straight into my mouth.

I'm really happy to here about ways to get it to places with no fridges and possibly wiping this out for good like we did with smallpox.

[kittenmommy]

I'd rather have the drop straight in my mouth too, TBH. I'm not a big fan of sugar.

[fallconsmate]

that's pretty amazing!

i *have* heard of older adults contracting polio from their grandchilden who were shedding virus (after immunization) because the adults' antibodies had never been upped again after the initial vaccination.

i was born in the early '60's, and remember the sugar cube, and how curious it was in '75 to get the smallpox vaccine when we were set to be transferred overseas. it was no longer a "have-to" vaccine by then.

[kittenmommy]

I remember being given the polio vaccine in a little cup to drink. It was red liquid.

IIRC, Alan Alda is a polio survivor.

The microneedles sound awesome!

[nightshade1972]

The Maternal Unit was vaccinated against polio when the vaccine was new and they were still using strains of live virus to create it (she turned 66 in Nov). She developed a problem with her right hip shortly thereafter. According to her, the pediatrician told my grandmother this was something to be concerned about, but my grandmother believed the doctors who said that children "never" developed polio after being treated with the vaccine, so nothing was done. My mother now has osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, and the osteoarthritis is the most severe in her weak hip.