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