1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm devilin a talker boarding and Devilino. 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: This year, during Halloween, I put on a really fun, 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,080 Speaker 1: campy movie. I know you like campy movies. This was 6 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:27,319 Speaker 1: a Boris Karloff movie, but it wasn't one of his 7 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: more famous repertory and it like Frankenstein or The Mummy 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:35,240 Speaker 1: or something. It was called The Ape and it was Yeah, 9 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: it was pretty old movie. I'm not gonna lie. It 10 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: was about a mad scientist in a small town, but 11 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: not your typical mad scientists who's, you know, like rolling 12 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,840 Speaker 1: his fingers and looking evil. He was a kindly sort 13 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: of fellow. He had a heart, and he was trying 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: to cure something called paralysis in the movie. My Netflix 15 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: Q told me though it was polio and got I 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: love Netflix. I gotta love Netflix. Very informative um. But 17 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: the doctor Boris Karloff was trying to cure this paralysis 18 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: and he was going to do so by obtaining a serum. 19 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: And of course, because it's a campy horror movie, it 20 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: goes to the point where he dawns an ape suit 21 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: and goes about murdering people trying to obtain their spinal fluid. 22 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,479 Speaker 1: But I also noticed though that the movie came out 23 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty and as silly as it was, I mean, 24 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: it was enjoyable, I recommend it. But as silly as 25 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: it was, it was playing off of a very real 26 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: fear at the time. And that was of course the 27 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,199 Speaker 1: paralysis in the movie Polio as we know it, because 28 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: since polio first started striking in epidemic proportions in the 29 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: late nineteenth century, it had only grown worse and worse 30 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: and worse. People didn't know how to stop it, they 31 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: didn't know how it spread, and worse to all, it 32 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: was something that usually struck kids in the severest form, 33 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: killing them or paralyzing them for life of an extremely 34 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,919 Speaker 1: disturbing disease. In the United States, for instance, polio epidemics 35 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: would sweep across the country each summer, striking rural and 36 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: urban areas, poor and wealthy neighborhoods. Teens and adults could 37 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 1: get it too, um and it was usually actually worse 38 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: for them To stop the spread. Modern cities would revert 39 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: to Renaissance like plague practices, no travel, no trade, and 40 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,639 Speaker 1: they would sometimes put quarantines on the homes. The Smithsonian 41 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: Museum of American History has a New York Times clipping 42 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: from nineteen sixteen about a man who was unable to 43 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: find a physician for his sick child, and so he 44 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: drove around and around until the boy died, and even 45 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,799 Speaker 1: then he couldn't find anyone to take the body. Yeah, 46 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: and it wasn't just the fear of catching polio. The 47 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 1: after effects of the epidemic were also extremely haunting kids 48 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: and wheelchairs and leg braces, patients in the dreaded iron 49 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: lung We're going to talk about that a little more later. 50 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: And in the early stages of the disease, the patient 51 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: would often be separated from his her family for about 52 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: two weeks, followed by very limited contact, you know, just 53 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: an hour or so every now and then. And these 54 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:12,079 Speaker 1: extended periods of separation made adjusting to life after polio 55 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: with all its consequences, a lot harder. But today people 56 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: if people have any understanding of polio, usually relates to 57 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: FDR President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who contracted the disease as 58 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,079 Speaker 1: an adult in ninety one. Unless you're living in one 59 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: of the four countries where wild polio virus is still present. 60 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: The fear just isn't there anymore. You couldn't put out 61 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: a movie anymore about this um paralysis. It needs to 62 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: be some other sort of scary contagious virus because there's 63 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: no longer any reason for somebody to contract polio. So 64 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the two very different vaccines 65 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: that have almost eliminated polio, the men who created them, 66 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: and the mass inoculations of the nineteen fifties and the 67 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: sixties that took place. But first we're going to talk 68 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: a little bit about what polio actually is. It's paralytic 69 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: poliomyelitis and is sometimes called infantile paralysis, and it's caused 70 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: by a virus, the polio virus, which was discovered in 71 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: eight by Karl's Landsteiner and Irwin Popper. And today we 72 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: know that the virus takes a fecal oral route, meaning 73 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: that contaminated fecal matter gets into the mouth through the hands, 74 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: or through food, or even through droplets from an infected 75 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 1: person's cough or sneeze, and once the virus is in 76 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: the mouth, it starts multiplying in the gastro intestinal track 77 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: and lymph nodes. From there it spreads to the bloodstream. 78 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 1: But here's the thing that's where it stops. For most people, 79 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: which I didn't know before about. People who contract polio 80 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: don't experience severe symptoms. They might feel like they have 81 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: the flu, or maybe not notice anything at all. These 82 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,799 Speaker 1: people become resistant to whichever strain of polio they've contracted exactly. 83 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: But if the poliovirus keeps going, attacks the central nervous system, 84 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: destroying the motor cells of the spinal cord and brainstem, 85 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: and this usually ends up affecting the limb muscles, so 86 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: thus polleys association with paralyzed legs. But it can also 87 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:17,719 Speaker 1: hit the facial muscles, or the back and abdominal muscles, 88 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: causing twisted spines. And in the worst cases, it strikes 89 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: muscles in the respiratory area, which in the early days 90 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: usually meant a death sentence. The development of the iron 91 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: lung in the nineteen twenties helped keep these people alive. Interestingly, 92 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 1: if you could get through the the acute phase the 93 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: first couple of weeks um in an iron lung, your 94 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:45,160 Speaker 1: muscles could usually develop enough strength or tone to start 95 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 1: being able to breathe on your own again. But it 96 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: took a while to get to that point. Even though 97 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: the poliovirus wasn't discovered until nineteen o eight, it's believed 98 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: to have existed long before that. The mummy of a 99 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: nineteenth dynasty pharaoh, for example, who lived between thirteen forty 100 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: two and eleven ninety seven b c. Even shows deformities 101 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: that are characteristic of polio. But still polio must not 102 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: have been widespread for many, many centuries. It didn't begin 103 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: appearing in medical texts until the seventeen hundreds, and it 104 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: wasn't until eighteen sixty eight that the first epidemic occurred 105 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: in Oslo. And I think that's so interesting that there's 106 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: this long dormant period essentially, oh, I mean not dormant. 107 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: People are still getting polio, so we believe, but not 108 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 1: anywhere like the kind of polio they were getting in 109 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: the twentieth century. The first US epidemic didn't happen until 110 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,040 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety four in Vermont, and by that point doctors 111 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: around the world were starting to piece together the fact 112 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: that you could get polio and not have any symptoms 113 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: or be resistant and not know that you had ever 114 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: had polio. Um you know, better understanding the virus and 115 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: the disease. But by the nineteen teens, epidemics were Polio 116 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: epidemics were becoming a regular summer occurrence. In New York 117 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: City's first epidemic, for instance, happened in nineteen sixteen. It 118 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: affected nine thousand people and killed two thousand forty three. 119 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: So the race to find a cure for this or 120 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: create a vaccine to prevent it was definitely on. But 121 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: before we go on to discuss the attempts to create 122 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 1: a vaccine for polio, I think it will help to 123 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: know exactly what a vaccine is, I mean, just in 124 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: case anybody doesn't, and then better understand how people understood 125 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: vaccines in the twenty century, what they were going into 126 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: it with. Okay, So first, here's a scenario for you. 127 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 1: If you had Type one polio before and you didn't 128 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: get sick, it would mean that your body had successfully 129 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: produced antibodies to fight it off. When you encounter the 130 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: virus a second time, your body would know what to 131 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: do with that. Again. A vaccine, of course, essentially attempts 132 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: to mimic this response, tricking the immune system into producing 133 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: antibodies to fight off a virus. It's not actually the 134 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: full strength real deal. It's something similar but not as dangerous, 135 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: or it's weakened, or it's in a very small quantities, 136 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: but it's enough to teach your body what to do 137 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: so that it's ready when the real thing comes along exactly. 138 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: So humans have been likely attempting self vaccination for thousands 139 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 1: of years, but immunization, as we understand it really kicked 140 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: off in sevente with Edward Jenner, and he inoculated a 141 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: young English boy against smallpox using cow pox, which was 142 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: not as scary, not as deadly as smallpox, but still 143 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: produced a similar response with antibodies. So the next big 144 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:45,239 Speaker 1: leap happened in five when Louis Pasteur used a syringe 145 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: to vaccinate a boy who had been bitten by a 146 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: mad dog against rabies. The boy would have definitely gotten sick, 147 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: you would have died from rabies um and the syringe 148 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: proved to be a way more reliable delivery method than 149 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: the earlier technique of using things like lances and pus 150 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: from pox and you know, kind of kind of gross 151 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: but also kind of unreliable methods. Uh from their large 152 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: scale immunization started by World War One with diphtheria, and 153 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: it really became something that people were used to, at 154 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: least with a few specific diseases. But even though medical 155 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: researchers knew that a vaccine was also feasible for polio, 156 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: there were some advancements to be made, namely a better 157 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: understanding of the virus and how to grow it in 158 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:36,559 Speaker 1: large enough quantities for a vaccine. In one Australian researchers 159 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: realized that polio came in different types, and that just 160 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: because you had resistance to one, it didn't mean that 161 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,559 Speaker 1: you couldn't catch another. So this meant that any vaccine 162 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 1: would need to cover all types. That was why that 163 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: example you deeply know you gave earlier specifically was like 164 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:54,199 Speaker 1: if you've got polio type one, because if you had 165 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: type two and you encountered type one, then you wouldn't 166 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: necessarily have a resistance. Another big advancement happened in nineteen 167 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 1: forty one when dr Albert Saban and Robert Ward showed 168 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: that poliovirus wasn't just a disease of the nervous system, 169 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: even though that was what people understood it as since 170 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: that's what it attacked. They realized that it entered through 171 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: the mouth and it first affected the digestive system, so 172 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: that suggested that a vaccine could possibly stop the virus 173 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: while it was still in the bloodstream, before it even 174 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: got to the nervous system and started causing so much damage. 175 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: Then in nineteen forty nine, researchers at Johns Hopkins confirmed 176 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: that the one suggestion that polio came in different types 177 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,959 Speaker 1: was true. There are three main varieties one, two, and three, 178 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: and again any vaccine had to work on all of 179 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: them to really work. And in nineteen forty nine Dr 180 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,319 Speaker 1: John Enders, Thomas Weller, and Frederick Robin showed that the 181 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 1: virus could grow on other types of tissue than nervous tissue, 182 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 1: like embryonic skin or muscle tissue. So before this, cultivating 183 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: the virus meant that you had to use live monkeys 184 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 1: to grow it, which is something that was expensive and 185 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: not available to a small labea having huge amounts monkeys 186 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: growing polio virus. So these three guys ended up winning 187 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: the Nobel Prize in nineteen fifty four for their work, 188 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:22,560 Speaker 1: and that finding was really crucial in developing a vaccine 189 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: because you've got to make large amounts of a vaccine 190 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: if it's going to do anything. So in the worst 191 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:32,320 Speaker 1: decades of polio paranoia and fear, there were obviously these 192 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:34,679 Speaker 1: big jumps in our understanding of the virus, but there 193 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: were also some setbacks. In nineteen Dr Maurice Brody and 194 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: Dr John Colemer each conducted separate human trials for their 195 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: own versions of a polio vaccine. The results were completely disastrous. 196 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 1: A lot of kids contracted polio, a few people died. 197 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:56,720 Speaker 1: But by World War Two there were again some new 198 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: advancements in how vaccines were made, the introduction and of 199 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:06,079 Speaker 1: um commercially made vaccines for soldiers, manufacturing guidelines, definitely more 200 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 1: stringent rules about clinical testing. So it was setting the 201 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: stage again for this big revolution we're going to talk 202 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: about that happened in the nineteen fifties. Fighting polio also 203 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: became an almost warlike matter for Fdr. In He said, 204 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,439 Speaker 1: quote the dread disease that we battle at home, like 205 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 1: the enemy we oppose abroad, shows no concern, no pity 206 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,680 Speaker 1: for the young. It strikes with its most frequent and 207 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: devastating force against children, and that is why much of 208 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: the future strength of America depends upon the success that 209 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: we achieve in combating this disease. But how are they 210 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,000 Speaker 1: going to combat it with polio? There were two main 211 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: ways to go. They could use an inactive or killed 212 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: virus as the basis for the vaccine, or they could 213 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,959 Speaker 1: use an attenuated or weakened virus as the basis for 214 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,679 Speaker 1: the vaccine. So ironically, both of these ended up working well. 215 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: But there's one that got more of the glory, all right, 216 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: So enter Dr Jonas Edwards Salk, who was born October 217 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants. 218 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: He was the first in his family to go to college, 219 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: and he earned his m d. From New York University 220 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:18,560 Speaker 1: College of Medicine. But while he was studying there, Salk 221 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: worked under a microbiologist named Thomas Francis Jr. Who was 222 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:28,080 Speaker 1: attempting to create a flu vaccine, which was later used 223 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: successfully in World War Two. So Salk got this early 224 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: exposure to making vaccines and trying to think about things 225 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: like that, and in nineteen forty seven, the University of 226 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: Pittsburgh recruited him to work specifically on viruses and ultimately 227 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: on the poliovirus, and by nineteen fifty two his research 228 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: had paid off. He was ready to start testing a 229 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: killed virus vaccine, so a virus that had been killed 230 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: with formaldehyde, but um it left enough of the structure 231 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: intact to trigger response like it would to live polio. 232 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: So first he tested it on kids who had already 233 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: had polio and recovered and they showed boosted antibodies. Then 234 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,160 Speaker 1: he tested it on institutionalized kids who were disabled or 235 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: mentally handicapped, as well as on himself, his wife, and 236 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: his own kids. And I mean that's a good point 237 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: to note that all of this polio research, um it 238 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: can come across this kind of unethical today because of 239 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: tests on institutionalized kids and tests on prisoners, tests on 240 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:38,800 Speaker 1: your own family, on on yourself, and also animal testing too. 241 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: I think more than one hundred thousand monkeys were killed 242 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: during the whole process of making these viruses or making 243 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 1: the vaccinations rather, So um just you know, something to 244 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: to throw out there. And another random note, um testing 245 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 1: it on his wife and kids. It wasn't this wife, 246 00:14:56,040 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: but Silk's second wife was Picasa's um widow mistress sort 247 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 1: of France Suis Guillo, who is the mother of Paloma. 248 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: A little bit of an unexpected connection there. I just 249 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 1: I thought I had to mention that since I sit 250 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: next to a photo of Picasso here in the studio. 251 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: Actually yeah, I mean, well, there's another connection. Develina is 252 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: sitting next to Tesla. I know all of you on 253 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: a podcast say I think people might like mine better. 254 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,480 Speaker 1: But so no one got sick from these trials, and 255 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: since nineteen fifty two had also been polio's peak year 256 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: in the United States with fifty seven thousand, six hundred 257 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: twenty eight cases, it was big news in nineteen fifty 258 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 1: three when Sealk published as Findings in the Journal of 259 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: the American Medical Association. So by nineteen fifty four, Salk 260 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,600 Speaker 1: had large amounts of an injectable vaccine and was ready 261 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 1: for large trials. The pilot program included fifteen thousand kids 262 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh, but the main field trial was massive one 263 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: point eight million kids in the US, Canada, and Finland 264 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: in grades one through three at two hundred and fifteen 265 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: test sites. The whole things directed by Dr Francis Salk's mentor, 266 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: and it featured a double blind process, which meant that 267 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: six hundred and fifty thousand people received the vaccine, seven 268 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: hundred fifty thousand received a placebo, and four hundred thirty 269 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 1: thousand received neither. And it took three hundred thousand volunteers 270 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: just to get out there and administer all of these vaccines, 271 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: and the record taking Francis ran a tight ship. The 272 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: record keeping was really immaculate, all sorts of follow ups 273 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: on these people. But by April nineteen it was official. 274 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: Francis declared Salks vaccine to be quote safe, effective, and potent, 275 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: and it became available commercially just a few years later, 276 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: and cases in the US a polio dropped immediately, I 277 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: mean eighty five to nine percent. There was one big 278 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: step back though, in nineteen fifty five, a major scare 279 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: when two hundred kids were affected by the vaccine. It 280 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: ended up being traced back to one specific manufacturer. There 281 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 1: was a not quite dead virus included in the vaccine, 282 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:10,120 Speaker 1: but ultimately, once it was determined it was from one 283 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: specific place, people did go back to Salk's inactivated polio 284 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 1: virus vaccine, the i p V, and the last US 285 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 1: case of polio occurred in nineteen seventy nine in an 286 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:27,639 Speaker 1: unvaccinated Amish population and Salk essentially became one of the 287 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 1: most famous medical heroes of the twentieth century. I read 288 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:36,920 Speaker 1: something interesting his fame almost alienated him from the medical community, 289 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:41,440 Speaker 1: just because he was so celebrated, and because other researchers 290 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 1: felt like they didn't get any credit for things that 291 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 1: they had contributed. Um so interestingly, Salk continued his research, 292 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: I think on HIV kind of stuff, you know, continuing 293 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: that viral research. But we do have a second vaccine 294 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,080 Speaker 1: to talk about. We said that there were two. We 295 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,919 Speaker 1: said that one sort of got all the glory. But 296 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,119 Speaker 1: what about the vaccine made not from the killed virus 297 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: but from the weekend virus. Well, if you grew up 298 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: in the US and you were vaccinated before two thousand, 299 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: you didn't get salks IPv. Instead you got Albert Saban's 300 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,439 Speaker 1: oral poliovirus vaccine op V for short. And if you 301 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: live outside of the US or outside of Europe, you 302 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: almost certainly got the o p V. So why are 303 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: there two and what are the benefits and the dangers 304 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,679 Speaker 1: of each kind? Well? Saban was a Polish Jew who 305 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,640 Speaker 1: had immigrated to America as a child, and he had, 306 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: as we mentioned, discovered in that the polio virus was 307 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,600 Speaker 1: not just a disease of the nervous system but one 308 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: of the intestinal track. So Saban had a problem with 309 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,960 Speaker 1: salks idea for a vaccine um even though well, if 310 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: prepared correctly, Salks vaccine using the killed virus would definitely 311 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 1: not give you polio because it had a dead virus 312 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:00,520 Speaker 1: in it. It also might not confer a lie lifetime 313 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: of immunity, it wouldn't be as strong. So Saban wanted 314 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: to create something that was stronger, stronger vaccine using live poliovirus, 315 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: although of course that means certain risks. So instead of 316 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: just killing the virus and creating a vaccine from there, 317 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,879 Speaker 1: he experimented on nine thousand monkeys and one hundred gems. 318 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 1: We did mention there were a lot of primates involved here. 319 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: Before he found a strain of the virus that would 320 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,960 Speaker 1: reproduce in the intestinal tract but not in the central 321 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:34,440 Speaker 1: nervous system, making that nine discovery pretty important. So this 322 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 1: meant that he could use a live, weaker strain of 323 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: the virus and from that create a longer lasting vaccine. 324 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:47,200 Speaker 1: And there's kind of a strange perk about the Saban vaccine, 325 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: and that when people who get it go to the bathroom. 326 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: Their feces contains a weaken version of the virus which 327 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: helps boost the immunity of the population as a whole, 328 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:01,640 Speaker 1: which made it pretty desirable in certain areas. We'll talk 329 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,119 Speaker 1: about that a little bit more. Though. Saban had a 330 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:09,680 Speaker 1: problem though. Once he had finally perfected his O p 331 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:14,479 Speaker 1: V version of the polio vaccine, yes, he was ready 332 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: to go forward with large scale tests right around the 333 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,200 Speaker 1: time that Sulks vaccine was being celebrated as a medical miracle. 334 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,399 Speaker 1: So he couldn't find enough people stateside who were willing 335 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 1: to participate, because why I take a risk participating in 336 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,520 Speaker 1: a trial if there's already a good cure out there, right, 337 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: So it's a prevention exactly. So Saban went to the 338 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 1: Belgian Congo and in the middle of the Cold War, 339 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: to the Soviet Union, and the government gave him a 340 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: medal for this. I mean, that's how badly they wanted 341 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 1: to handle polio, how bad polio was around the world, 342 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 1: they would let this American guy, a a Polish jew immigrant, 343 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: come into the Soviet Union and do this wide scale 344 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: medical test. But by the early sixties, Avan's vaccine had 345 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: caught on in the United States too, it was cheaper, 346 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,919 Speaker 1: it was easier to produce UM. One big perk is 347 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: that it didn't require a shot because it was an 348 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: oral vaccine, so that makes it easier to administer too. 349 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 1: And it became completely vital for world eradication efforts, which 350 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: really took off in the nineteen seventies. And today polio 351 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:28,199 Speaker 1: is endemic only in Nigeria, India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Of 352 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 1: the three types of viruses, poliovirus two is probably eradicated. 353 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: The last case to the last known case was in 354 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:40,920 Speaker 1: Indian and poliovirus three is probably also close to eradication. Yeah, 355 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 1: And in two thousand, the US switched back to I 356 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:50,359 Speaker 1: p V after it was determined that you were it 357 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: wasn't worth the risk anymore having that live virus in 358 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: O p V because your risk of contracting polio in 359 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,920 Speaker 1: North America wild polio was just pretty much nothing. UM. 360 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,359 Speaker 1: You were only likely to to maybe pick it up 361 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: if you went to one of those countries where it 362 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:09,400 Speaker 1: was still endemic. So the US switched back to IPv, 363 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,919 Speaker 1: but there's still a big hurdle in eliminating polio in 364 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: some of those remaining countries. And that's fear and suspicion, 365 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:22,680 Speaker 1: just not knowing exactly what, um, what people are coming 366 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: in to do when they're administering these o p vs. Yes. 367 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 1: For example, in two thousand three, the World Health Organization 368 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: launched a huge campaign to vaccinate fifteen million kids in Nigeria, 369 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 1: but leaders there spread word the vaccines had been mixed 370 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: with anti fertility drugs and the HIV virus. So the 371 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 1: World Health Organization has started from the bottom up, instead 372 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: meeting with local leaders and winning their approval first before 373 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,360 Speaker 1: going in and doing us in order to to try 374 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: to knock it out in Nigeria. One sort of final 375 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,879 Speaker 1: note on the story and the men involved, Salk and 376 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,159 Speaker 1: Saban both chose not to patent their vaccine, And I 377 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 1: mean they could have probably made huge amounts of money 378 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: off of this, but they considered the vaccine their gift 379 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 1: to humanity. Um. I was really I enjoyed researching this 380 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:15,520 Speaker 1: and learning a little bit more about polio. I hadn't 381 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,640 Speaker 1: known much about Saban at all, which is surprising now 382 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:23,400 Speaker 1: that I realized what a huge contribution he had to 383 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: to eradicating polio in most of the world. Yeah, I 384 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: thought it was pretty interesting too, And I think, um, 385 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 1: even in this day and age, it's important for people 386 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 1: to kind of understand what they're dealing with when they're 387 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 1: dealing with different vaccines because there's so much misinformation out 388 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:40,119 Speaker 1: there and debate about vaccines today. UM, I think it 389 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,920 Speaker 1: just helps. The more you know, the better, definitely. So 390 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: I'm glad that I decided to watch that scary Halloween 391 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: movie and um inspired me to go research polio. I mean, 392 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,679 Speaker 1: I know lots of people have suggested it, but UM, 393 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: I just thought that we're alternate history sort of from 394 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: nineteen forty involving eight made me want to learn more 395 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: about the real thing. And it brought you back to 396 00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: medical history again, which we've been delving into a lot, 397 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,399 Speaker 1: at least recently. And we love talking about medical history. 398 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: And we do have a medical related email to share 399 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: with you. So this message is from Christopher and he 400 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,439 Speaker 1: wrote in you guys suggested we email you if we 401 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: listen to your podcast while doing interesting things. I'm a 402 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,640 Speaker 1: graduate student at cal Tech getting my PhD in chemistry 403 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: and listen to you guys while working in the lab. 404 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: I was listening to your podcasts, in which he mentioned 405 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,560 Speaker 1: the scientists who dissolved to Nobel prizes in Aqua Regia 406 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 1: to keep them from the Nazis. I keep a bottle 407 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,399 Speaker 1: of the same stuff on my bench in lab. I 408 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,679 Speaker 1: use Aqua Regia on a weekly basis, though usually not 409 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,480 Speaker 1: to dissolve Nobel prizes. It's really helpful in cleaning really 410 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: dirty glassware because it will dissolve medals but not the 411 00:24:54,640 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: glass itself. It's great stuff, though super smelly and pretty dangerous. 412 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,359 Speaker 1: You wouldn't want to use it to clean your dirty 413 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,920 Speaker 1: dishes at home, which makes me think of a whole 414 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: another mad scientist type movie, one who uses one who 415 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: use of chemical solutions to do the dishes? Which one 416 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,640 Speaker 1: is that? Oh no, just one of making up our 417 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 1: head right now, let's go back to your cubes and 418 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 1: write it too plaina. Okay, so that wasn't medical related, 419 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 1: but it was science related, science related, and um, I 420 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,320 Speaker 1: thought it fit well enough with polio. So thank you, Christopher. 421 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: That was a fun um fun note to share. And 422 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: if any other folks want to write us, suggest medical topics, 423 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 1: suggest any other kind of topics, uh. You can find 424 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,240 Speaker 1: us at History Podcast at how stuff works dot com. 425 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:44,960 Speaker 1: We're also on Twitter at mist in History and we 426 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: are on Facebook. And if you want to learn a 427 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,359 Speaker 1: little bit more about vaccines and some of the facts 428 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: and the myths surrounding them, you can look up an 429 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: article called how Vaccines Work on our website by visiting 430 00:25:54,840 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 1: us at www dot how stuff Works dot com. Be 431 00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff from 432 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,879 Speaker 1: the Future. Join How Staff Works staff as we explore 433 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The House 434 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 1: to Works iPhone app has a rise. Download it today 435 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: on iTunes.