The injectable polio vaccine was rumored to be deadly, a potion from hell before its first large-scale trial, then came under scrutiny due to manufacturing problems.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), polio is a highly contagious disease that mainly affects young children. The disease attacks the nervous system, can cause paralysis of the spine and respiratory system, and in some cases can be fatal.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, polio became the world's most feared disease. A major outbreak in New York City in 1916 killed more than 2,000 people, and a more severe outbreak in the United States in 1952 killed 3,000. Many survivors suffered lifelong disabilities such as leg braces, crutches, wheelchairs, and breathing support devices.
This context created an urgent need for a vaccine, which was only broken through when a group of three scientists successfully cultured the polio virus in human tissue in 1949, including John Enders, Thomas Weller and Frederick Robbins, working together at Boston Children's Hospital (USA).
In the early 1950s, American physician Jonas Salk became the first person to successfully develop an injectable polio vaccine (IPV) from inactivated virus. However, before it was approved, the vaccine faced public opposition. The reason was that the vaccine would be tested in a field trial with the participation of more than 1.8 million Americans.
Local politicians worried that the experiment had gone awry, that the shots might cause disease rather than prevent it, and that state officials would be held accountable. Rumors circulated that warehouses across the country were stockpiling small white coffins to hold the bodies of hundreds of thousands of children who had been tested on Salk's "hell potion."
Mimi Meade, seven, grimaces as Dr. Richard Mulvaney injects her with the Salk polio vaccine in 1954. Photo: AP
As the field trial drew closer, the rumors grew stronger. Many communities in the states withdrew from the trial, forcing him and the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (a nonprofit that supported Salk) to convince each community group to participate.
Salk also relied on the media to convince and reassure the public about the safety of the shot. Time magazine commented: "It is not too much to say that the public trusted the scientist who spoke out on the airwaves and in the pages of the newspaper. And it is not too much to say that the scientist succeeded."
By April 12, 1955, after a year of testing, the vaccine was declared safe, effective, and well-tolerated. That same day, the vaccine was licensed and began to be used in the community, and there was even talk of making it free to the public, but that was rejected. Salk was committed to equitable access to the vaccine, understanding that disease eradication efforts would not be effective without universal, low-cost or free vaccines.
Six private companies were then licensed to produce and supply vaccines to the public. However, a black market emerged, causing the cost of a dose to increase tenfold, from $2 to $20. This created a conflict when the nonprofit raised money based on community resources, while the price was only accessible to the wealthy.
Illustration of the IPV injectable polio vaccine. Photo: Europeanpharmaceuticalreview
Additionally, there were reports of children being hospitalized with polio after receiving the Salk vaccine. When six vaccinated children died, vaccination was suspended until more information was available about the vaccine’s safety. In all, 10 vaccinated children died after contracting polio, and about 200 children developed varying degrees of paralysis.
The U.S. government later determined that the cases originated from Cutter Labs, one of six companies licensed to produce polio vaccines. The company did not follow Salk’s detailed procedures for producing the vaccine, and did not kill the virus during preparation. As a result, children were injected with live vaccines. Vaccinations resumed in mid-June with tighter government controls and the addition of the Polio Vaccine Support Act.
Within a year, 30 million American children were vaccinated and the number of polio cases was nearly halved. By 1961, the number of polio cases in the United States had dropped to 161. In the same year, the second polio vaccine (OPV), developed by virologist Albert Sabin, was approved and used in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Cuba, etc. Vaccines continue to be improved for use in polio prevention around the world.
Chile (According to WHO, Time, The Conversation )
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