1 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: On this episode of News World, I thought, even everything 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: that's happening with COVID nineteen and all the concerns of 3 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: our vaccines, it would really be fascinating to look at 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: the time when there was an enormous breakthrough. One of 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,479 Speaker 1: the greatest breakthroughs in public health in the twentieth century 6 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:25,960 Speaker 1: involved polio. Polio was a paralyzing disease mostly affected children, 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: and in some ways, COVID nineteen in polio presents similar challenges. 8 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: Like polio. COVID nineteen is a highly contagious virus that 9 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,240 Speaker 1: can be deadly. But while COVID nineteen enters the lungs 10 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: through airborne particles, polio enters the body through the guests 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: from intestinal track, often through contaminated water. In nineteen twenty one, 12 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: the most famous polio victim, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, contracted polio. 13 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: By the nineteen fifties, polio had become one of the 14 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: most serious communicable diseases among children nine states. In nineteen 15 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: forty six, President Harry Truman, who had served with President Roosevelt, 16 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: declared polio at threat to nine states and called on 17 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: Americans to do everything possible. Competitive I listen to President 18 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: Truman's comments, the fight against infantile paralysis cannot be a 19 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: local war. It must be nationwide. It must be total 20 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: for every city, town, and village throughout the land. Our 21 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: only with the United Front can we ever hope to 22 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: win any war. Now, despite Truman's appeal, by nineteen fifty two, 23 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: nearly sixty thousand people were infected with the virus. In 24 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two, over three thousand children died. Hospitals set 25 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: up special units with our lung machines to keep polio 26 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: victims alive, and children of all socioeconomic levels were left paralyzed. 27 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: Now it's this period that doctor Jonah Saulk and his 28 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: research team at the University of Pittsburgh launched the largest 29 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: human vaccine trial in history, injecting nearly two million American 30 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: kids with the potential vaccine, and in April twelfth, nineteen 31 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: fifty five, they released the first successful vaccine for polly. 32 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: By nineteen seventy nine, the United States reported its last 33 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:29,119 Speaker 1: case of the paralyzing virus. The first major POLO epidemic 34 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: in the US hit Vermont in eighteen ninety four, with 35 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty two cases. It was fairly dormant 36 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: was not seen as a big problem, but in nineteen 37 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: sixteen there was a much bigger outbreak in New York 38 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: City with over twenty seven thousand cases and six thousand deaths. 39 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: Howmeember it isn't afraid where we don't actually yet know 40 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: the virus is, and when people don't have much ability 41 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: to cope with it. It's one of the reasons that 42 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: two years later the Spanish flu epidemic will be so 43 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: terrified because we don't have the kind of science you 44 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,639 Speaker 1: and I lived with today. Gradually the polio epidemic spread, 45 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: I would come back again and again, and the nineteen 46 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 1: fifty two polio epidemic was the worst outbreak in American history. 47 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: There were fifty eight thousand cases reported that year. Number 48 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: this is a much smaller country in population. In nineteen 49 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: fifty two, thirty one hundred and forty five people died, 50 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: twenty one thousand, two hundred and sixty nine were left 51 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: with mild to disabling paralysis, and most of the victims 52 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: were children, which really I think tugged at the heart 53 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: and made people really determined to find something to do. 54 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: In fact, between nineteen fifty one and fifty four, there 55 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: was an average of sixteen thousand, three hundred and sixteen 56 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: polio cases every year, and they were eighteen hundred and 57 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: seventy nine deaths for polio every year. So polio was 58 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: a very big deal to people were seen as terrifying. 59 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: People weren't surely they should allow their children to example 60 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: of glad and Swim because it clearly had some kind 61 00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: of waterboarding relationship. Once the vaccine was introduced, it had 62 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: an amazing drop or went down to less than a 63 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: thousand cases in nineteen sixty two, and after that it 64 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: was consistently below one hundred cases. I think that the 65 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 1: period that were talking about, everybody was aware of it. 66 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: I was a child growing up. We realized that polio 67 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: was an enormous problem and people would really worry about, 68 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: for example, whether he goes swimming in the local creek. 69 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,039 Speaker 1: I was living in Hummelest Town, Pennsylvania. We had a 70 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: small stream sweat our creek out back. People weren't sure 71 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 1: whether or not it was healthy to go there. They 72 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: preferred to go down to Hershey Park where they had 73 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: chlorinated water, and whether they had a sense that you 74 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: were safer. I met several friends who had polio and 75 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: who survived it, but who challenges either were walking or 76 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: with their legs, something which left them the rest of 77 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: their life slightly weaker in terms of their ankles or 78 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 1: their legs. And by the way, one of the people 79 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 1: who ends up getting polio is Mitch McConnell, who gets 80 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: a relatively mild version. His mother takes great care of him. 81 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,360 Speaker 1: He writes about it and in his memoir The Long Game, 82 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: and said she had not paid attention every single day, 83 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: massaged his legs, helped him get out of bed. He 84 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 1: probably would have been bound in a wheelchair, but said, 85 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: you gradually slowly recovered a great explanation of some of 86 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: the discipline he has and some of the toughness he has. Remember, 87 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,160 Speaker 1: you can end up spending your life in an iron lung. 88 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: In fact, one of the things I always used to 89 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: twady of people think about in terms of the power 90 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: of curing diseases rather than simply managing them, is imagine 91 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: how much money we have saved and how much human 92 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: misery we have saved through the polio vaccine. And the 93 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: fact you don't think about iron lungs today. Growing up 94 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: in the fifties and sixties, I didn't actually know anybody 95 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: who's in an iron lung. Ironically, though, since I had 96 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,359 Speaker 1: grown up in central Pennsylvania surrounded by the Amish. The 97 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,359 Speaker 1: last naturally occurring case of polio in the US was 98 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,239 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine, and it was an outbreak among 99 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: the Amish in several states, including in Pennsylvania, and I 100 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: think that was the last straw, and finally everybody basically 101 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:14,840 Speaker 1: took the vaccine and polio disappeared. There's been a worldwide 102 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: effort to get rid of polio. The Western Hemisphere was 103 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: declared free of polio in nineteen ninety four. There are 104 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: handful of countries that still have some polio outbreaks, but 105 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: only three polio endemic countries remained countries that have never 106 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: stopped the transmission of wild polio virus. Let's Afghanistan, Nigeria 107 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 1: in Pakistan, and there are ongoing efforts at all three 108 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: of those countries to track down and eliminate the last 109 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: the virus so that the entire planet will be basically 110 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: free of polio. This was an extraordinary breakthrough, and it 111 00:06:53,720 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: starts in many ways with doctor Jonah Sault, doctor John Saul. 112 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: He's born in nineteen fourteen in New York City. He's 113 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: the oldest of three sons to Russian Jewish emigrants, Daniel 114 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: and Dora. Salk and Shark talked about his childhood and 115 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: how his mother's overprotectiveness shaped him. I think it's worth 116 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: listening to salve himself. I got along with my classmates, 117 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,679 Speaker 1: but I don't I was not as sociable as child 118 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: in the sense of socializing. I could spend time by 119 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: myself and I still do so. The capacity to spend 120 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: time alone, it was something that I look back upon 121 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: as having perhaps contributed to this kind of introspection. And 122 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: I would say that I spent more time alone than 123 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: I did in the social settings, so to speaking. And 124 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: part of this was probably attributed to my mother's over 125 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: protectiveness and lest I get hurt, hurt myself of injured 126 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: in some way, And so how much of this is innate, 127 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: how much of this came about through that kind of nurturing, 128 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: I can't say. He was the first member of his 129 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: family to attend college. It's interesting because that was in America, 130 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: where people really worked hard one of their children to 131 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: get ahead and saw going to college as a major breakthrough. 132 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 1: On Salk's case, he had first thought he was going 133 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 1: to be a lawyer, but then he got interested in science. 134 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: I think he was deeply shaped by the fact and 135 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: had a sense of obligation by the fact that he 136 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: was the first his family to the college and what 137 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: that led to. So again let's listen to Salk himself 138 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: talk about his life. My mother's children, father's children were 139 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,199 Speaker 1: the first of their respective generations that went on to college. 140 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 1: So there was something special in the household that was 141 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: very nurturing for shall we say, advancing in the world, 142 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: getting ahead. But whether it was in business or in law, 143 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: or in medicine, so to speak, was not of great concern. 144 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: I believe that this is part of our nature and 145 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: part of an ancestral heritage. That's how we got to 146 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 1: be where we are. So I was thinking about a 147 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: career in law, but his mother said he would never 148 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: succeed in the court room since he couldn't even win 149 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: an argument against her. I think that must have been 150 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,960 Speaker 1: pretty convincing to him, because he decided, you know, he 151 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: didn't have to argue in science, and so he switched 152 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:57,679 Speaker 1: from pre law to pre med It's funny to listen 153 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: to Salve himself talk about what happened to his ambitions 154 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,200 Speaker 1: and the dramatic impact of his mother. At some point, 155 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:10,440 Speaker 1: I recall having the ambition to study law, to be 156 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: elected to Congress and to try to make just laws. 157 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: But I didn't pursue the study of the law for 158 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 1: a curious reason. My mother didn't think i'd make a 159 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: very good lawyer, and I believe that her reasons were 160 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: that I couldn't really win an argument with her, at 161 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:37,439 Speaker 1: least this is my way of expressing it. And so 162 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: this change took place between leaving high school and entering college, 163 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:46,199 Speaker 1: because I think I ended college enrolled as a pre 164 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 1: law student, but I changed to pre med after I 165 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: went through some soul searching as to what I would 166 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 1: do other than to study law, and her preference was 167 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: that I should be a teacher or that didn't appeal 168 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 1: to me. And when I decided to study medicine, I 169 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: was sufficiently interested in the science, and I began to 170 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:23,040 Speaker 1: think about the scientific aspect of medicine, and my intention 171 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: was to go to medical school and to become a 172 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: medical scientist. I did not intend to practice medicine, so 173 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:37,320 Speaker 1: really was interested in studying medicine. But his original desire 174 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 1: about studying the law was based on the same principle 175 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: could he help mankind? But somehow as a lawyer, could 176 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: he help with the rule of law? And I think 177 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: it's worth lessen to start tell us why he initially 178 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: cared about the law, because it tells you something about 179 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: his deep commitment to helping people. This is all linked 180 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: to my original ambition or desire, which was to be 181 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:05,440 Speaker 1: of some help to humankind, so to speak, in a 182 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 1: larger sense than just on a one to one basis. 183 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,319 Speaker 1: Just as I intended to study law to make just laws, 184 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: so I found myself interested now in the laws of nature, 185 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:24,839 Speaker 1: as this think from the laws that people make. Having 186 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: been convinced by his mother that he couldn't outargue her, 187 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: so he wouldn't be a good lawyer. He then earned 188 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 1: his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine 189 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty nine. In nineteen forty two, he went 190 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: to the University of Michigan and research fellowship under the 191 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: direction of doctor Thomas Francis. The pair worked towards the 192 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: development and implementation of an effective influence that I'd seen 193 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: for the US military in the middle of World War Two. 194 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,079 Speaker 1: Remember that if you are the military, and you've been 195 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: through the Spanish flu in nineteen eighteen, nineteen nineteen, which 196 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 1: is devastating in the military basism were laws of our 197 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,599 Speaker 1: of young men were living in the same barracks, infecting 198 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: each other. You never again wanted to have that kind 199 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 1: of experience. So the military actually was a very major 200 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: driver of biological and medical research because it saw a 201 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,200 Speaker 1: healthier of military as a key to victory. And it 202 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:24,320 Speaker 1: recognized that if you could say people from variety of things, 203 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,080 Speaker 1: whether it was dying for lack of penicilla or it 204 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: was dying from the flu, that every person you say, 205 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 1: strengthened your side. So it's a purely practical thing. The 206 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: motor invested heavily in a lot of research and a 207 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: lot of production of new breakthroughs in medicine. When Sauk 208 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: was done with his fellowship of University of Mission, he 209 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: turned his attention to politovirus. He wanted to create an 210 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: effective and safe vaccine and he began his work at 211 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. At the University of 212 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 1: Pittsburgh was a very major institution with very substantial resource 213 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:03,440 Speaker 1: In in nineteen forty seven, two years after the war, 214 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 1: Sauk was appointed director of the Virus Research Lab at 215 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Now a lot 216 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,679 Speaker 1: of his colleagues did not think it was possible, and 217 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: they didn't think that he was going to make a breakthrough, 218 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 1: but Salk decided to change the approach to the poly 219 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: vaccine very drammatically. He wanted to use the same approach 220 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: he used earlier when working on influenza that was very 221 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: different than the vaccine development that was already established and 222 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: widely used at the time. The established model of vaccine 223 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: development was first to isolate a live, but weakened microorganism. 224 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: This weakened virus or bacteria would then be administered to 225 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: patients in order to create a low grade and natious infection, 226 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: though confer long standing immunity. In other words, the idea 227 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: was that I got you to be a little bit 228 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: sick that your own response would be to develop a 229 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: dramatically greater resistance to the actual disease. The Salt had 230 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,640 Speaker 1: employed a very different approach when he worked on the 231 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: influenza vaccine for the US Army. He had used a 232 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: non infectious, killed virus to induce protective immunity. In other words, 233 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: he took literally dead virus, but the existence of the 234 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 1: pattern of the virus seemed to trigger the immune system. 235 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: Now there's a real breakthrough from the way they have 236 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: an approaching him. And here is what Salk said when 237 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: he was explaining why he decided to use in an 238 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: activated virus instead of a weakened virus in the polio vaccine. 239 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: Was not necessary to run the risk of infection, which 240 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 1: would have been the case if one were to try 241 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:52,840 Speaker 1: to develop unattenuated or weakened poliovirus vaccine. And so it 242 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 1: seemed to me the safer and more certain way to 243 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: proceed that if we could inactivate the virus, that we 244 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: could move on to a vaccine very quickly, whereas if 245 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,480 Speaker 1: you were only with weakened virus you'd have to demonstrate 246 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 1: its safety eventually. So that was the reasoning, and it 247 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: was there was a principle. It was involved, you might say, 248 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 1: a scientific principle, a fundamental principle, choosing and preferring that 249 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: which the safety which you could control and the quantities 250 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: which you could use. So that this is in a 251 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 1: way a more scientific approach, trying to work like nature 252 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: instead of imitating nature. Now this was a real break. 253 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: Remember all these other folks that invested psychologically, and they 254 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: invested their careers and their prestige in a particular approach 255 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: which involved having the virus still alive but in a 256 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,960 Speaker 1: weakened form. So Aucus coming along saying no, no, that's wrong. 257 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: If you wanted to is have a dead virus which 258 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: will still trigger the immune response. And you got a 259 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: lot of criticism. Well, here's what Sok said. Has he 260 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 1: responded to that criticism on the way of developing the 261 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: polio vaccine? I just plowed on. Hurt is one thing, 262 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:15,919 Speaker 1: being deterred as another thing. And so while we prefer 263 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:20,080 Speaker 1: to have an open path, one thing you learn in 264 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:22,920 Speaker 1: life is that there's no such thing as a free lunch. 265 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 1: There's no way that everybody is going to agree in 266 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:31,160 Speaker 1: particularly if you go against the mainstream. And since everyone 267 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: at that time had already been had their mind set 268 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,920 Speaker 1: on how they thought the problem ought to be dealt with, 269 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,679 Speaker 1: Well it was influenza or poliomylitis, or now even the 270 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: work on AIDS. That's a characteristic of how what I 271 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,480 Speaker 1: like to call the evolutionary process proceeds. That the contradictionist 272 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: in your assertion, you say, scientists who are have a 273 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: bent to help mankind, that's not what they're objective is. 274 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: If that was their objective, they might approach us somewhat differently. 275 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:09,959 Speaker 1: And so you must. You see, you project your own 276 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: perception of what a scientist is like, or what he 277 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: should do, what you'd expect him to do. But you 278 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: soon find out that that's not necessarily the case, and 279 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 1: that the motivation that drives us to do what we 280 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,639 Speaker 1: do is different in each of us. And then you 281 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,119 Speaker 1: begin to understand from the effect that's produced, what is 282 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: the person's real motivation. Now, so was not doing all 283 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: this in isolation. Working at the University of Pittsburgh. He'd 284 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: written a number of scientific and theoretical articles in polio 285 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,879 Speaker 1: and his ideas for a vaccine. These publications captured the 286 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: attention of the National Foundation from from del Paralysis. This 287 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: is something I remember vividly from my childhood. President Roosevelt 288 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: created the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and was known 289 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:07,199 Speaker 1: as the March of Dimes. And their whole appeal was 290 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,159 Speaker 1: wouldn't you give a dime to help defeat polio and 291 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 1: to save children? And so They've raised a really pretty 292 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: substantial amount of money out of the March of Dimes, 293 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: and they provided significant support to Salk towards developing. To 294 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: show you the dramatic difference in common sense risk assessment 295 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:34,199 Speaker 1: and willingness to do something to help people, compare the 296 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: current bureaucratic and rigid food and drug administration models and 297 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: the passion about tenth level of safety with what doctor 298 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 1: Salk did. He found that he thought he head of 299 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:50,359 Speaker 1: vaccine knew it work, and so he tested in his 300 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: own family. And listen to his own son talking about 301 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,359 Speaker 1: him testing the first vaccine on his own family. I 302 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: just hated injections, and my father came home with polio 303 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: vaccine and some syringes and needles that he sterilized on 304 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,640 Speaker 1: the kitchen stove by boiling in water, lined us kids up, 305 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: and then administered the vaccine. This is from doctor Peter 306 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: Salt seventy six. It was a University of Pittsburgh professor 307 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:19,920 Speaker 1: of Infectious Diseases of biology and president the Jonas Salk 308 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 1: Legacy Foundation. He said, I was just not happy at 309 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 1: the notion of having another shot. So here you have 310 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 1: the kids in the family. Dad comes home and said 311 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 1: guess what we're going to do. According to Peter Salk, 312 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,679 Speaker 1: when his father came in, he said he hated the 313 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: needles so much that he previously crouched and hid behind 314 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: the kitchen waste basket to avoid getting shot. Standing beside 315 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 1: his two brothers, he braced for the injection. Two weeks later, 316 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,480 Speaker 1: they received a second dose, which was photographed to generate 317 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: publicity for the March of Dimes, which had put millions 318 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 1: of dollars into pollio research. As the younger doctor Salt, 319 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: Peter said, the point of though, was to demonstrate my 320 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,880 Speaker 1: father's confidence in the vaccine, but it was also from 321 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: my father's side, of my mother's side, let's get these 322 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,720 Speaker 1: kids protected. Now imagine the level of confidence that says, 323 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 1: I have this vaccine, I'm pretty sure it's going to work, 324 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 1: so I'm gonna try it out on my kids. And 325 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 1: the fact is it did work, and they went from 326 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: there to steadily expanding opportunities to get more and more 327 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: and more people tested. Something which would probably have taken 328 00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: in normal time with the modern food and administration many 329 00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: years and billions of dollars was done literally as a 330 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,920 Speaker 1: publicity campaign by the March of Dimes. And people were 331 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 1: so eager for the cure that they just showed up. 332 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:46,480 Speaker 1: It was a remarkable moment of citizenship, in a remarkable 333 00:21:46,520 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: moment of heroic achievement by doctor Sulk. In nineteen fifty four, 334 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: national testing began on a million children. Imagine that's compared 335 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,120 Speaker 1: to the way we do things nowadays. They became known 336 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: as the Polio Pioneers. People were so eager to get 337 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: to a vaccine because they were so frightened that their 338 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,439 Speaker 1: child will end up either dying or being quippled for life, 339 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: that there was a huge response, and by April of 340 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,480 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five, the results were very clear the vaccine 341 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: was safe and effective. The two years before the vaccine 342 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,920 Speaker 1: was widely available, the average number of polio cases in 343 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:47,439 Speaker 1: the US was more than forty five. By nineteen sixty two, 344 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: that number had dropped to nine hundred and ten. Think 345 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: about that, from forty five thousand a year to nine 346 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,240 Speaker 1: hundred a year. What an astonishing breakthrough in public health. 347 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: I think about how many lives were saved, how many 348 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: people were not in iron lungs, how many people were 349 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 1: not spending years of their life recovering. It truly was 350 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: a miraculous moment in human history in terms of the 351 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:16,400 Speaker 1: health of the average person. When the vaccine was accepted, 352 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 1: licenses were issued, vaccination campaigns were launched, much of what 353 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: you're seeing today with COVID nineteen by nineteen fifty seven. 354 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,360 Speaker 1: Remember that this first big test is nineteen fifty four. 355 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: The results are announced in nineteen fifty five, and by 356 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty seven, following mass immunizations that were promoted by 357 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,760 Speaker 1: the March of Dimes, the March of Dimes said financed 358 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: a lot of the research. They were now financing the 359 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: publicity to get people to take the vaccine, and it 360 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,720 Speaker 1: began dropping dramatically, went down almost immediately, from fifty eight 361 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: thousand cases to fifty six hundred cases. Interestingly, compared to 362 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: a lot of the current arguments about patents and making 363 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: money and all that, Jonas never patented the vaccine. He 364 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: never earned any money from his discovery. He wanted to 365 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: distribute it as widely as possible. Here's doctor Sault talking 366 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,200 Speaker 1: about why he never patented the vaccine. Who owned the 367 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: patent done this vaccine? Well, the people I would say, 368 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: there is no pat could you patent the son? Now 369 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,680 Speaker 1: it's funny because what he is doing was, of course, 370 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: being a maverick. He was off developing a protocol that 371 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 1: most of his colleagues didn't believe in that in fact 372 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: repudiated their work. So even though it worked, and even 373 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 1: though he saved an enormous number of lives, he was 374 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: never given membership in the American Academy of Sciences, and 375 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: he was never awarded the Nobel Prize because he didn't 376 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: do it the right way for the establishment. And so 377 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 1: the fact that he had saved literally thousands of thousands 378 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: of lives, millions of lives by the day just didn't matter. 379 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: But it didn't matter to him. He was famous yet 380 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 1: acts to resources. In nineteen sixty three he founded the 381 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:08,159 Speaker 1: saul Institute for Biological Studies in Loahia, California, which I visited, 382 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: as you who've been in Ohio and been in Pittsburgh 383 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,280 Speaker 1: understand exactly why he ended up opening The Saulk Institute 384 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 1: in Hiah was a great place and still today a 385 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:22,359 Speaker 1: remarkable research center. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of 386 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:27,160 Speaker 1: Freedom in nineteen seventy seven. He spanished last years searching 387 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 1: for a vaccine against age, just stayed active. He's the 388 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:32,960 Speaker 1: kind of guy who wanted to go and do things. 389 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: He wanted to be involved. He was fascinated by science 390 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:40,200 Speaker 1: and by the natural world. He died on June twenty third, 391 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety five, at the age of eighty, having contributed 392 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 1: immensely to a better human grace. Think about it, this 393 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:56,640 Speaker 1: guy on his own, stubborn following his own drummer, doing 394 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: what he thought was right, save literally hundreds of thousands 395 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:05,120 Speaker 1: of people, and was happy to have done so. Didn't 396 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 1: end up being a billionaire, didn't end up having the 397 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 1: Sauk Pharmaceutical company, just kept researching. I want to tell 398 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: you that Sauk as somebody a lot more people should study, 399 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,200 Speaker 1: and he's a life a lot more people should follow. 400 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to this episode of The Immortals, 401 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: Doctor Jonas Sault. You can read more about this Sapolio 402 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: and as eradication from the United States on our show 403 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: page at Newtsworld dot com. News World is produced by 404 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 1: Givingers three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producers Debbie Miners, 405 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 1: our producers guards A Salona, and our researcher as Rachel Peterson. R. 406 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 1: Work for the show was created by Steve Penwick special 407 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: thanks to the team at Givens three system. If you've 408 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 1: been enjoying newts World, I hope you'll go to Apple 409 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,680 Speaker 1: Podcast and both rate us with five stars and give 410 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 1: us a review so others can learn it's all about. 411 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,119 Speaker 1: Right now, listeners our new to World can sign up 412 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:07,440 Speaker 1: for my three three weekly columns at Gingwich three ston 413 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:11,680 Speaker 1: dot com slash newsletter. I'm new Gingwich. This is new 414 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 1: to World.