Surviving the “Summer Plague”: The Struggle to Beat Polio
2015 is the 60th anniversary of the polio vaccine and many countries are celebrating an apparen't eradication of polio. That's a wonderful good news story.
Polio paralyzes muscles, including those muscles that allow one to breathe. In the early to mid 20th century paren'ts, fear stricken that their children would survive the disease only by use of an "iron lung", fundraised diligently for a cure.
The "summer plague" was a dreadful experience. Polio is extremely contagious and is spread by contaminated food and water. Children fell to the disease fast and hard. Out running and playing in the summer sun one week, then encased in one of these the next.
This monster of a machine is the Negative Pressure Ventilator, the "iron lung".
Canadians have shared their stories of iron lungs, forced exercise and other treatments of the time. Explore their experiences in fiction, non-fiction and audiobook.
Young people will discover the hardships borne by youth and families on the Canadian prairies in To Stand on My Own, one in the excellent "Dear Canada" Young Adult series.
Hear Canadian stories of survivors and caregivers in Remember Polio.
Polio survivors, caregivers and family members give vivid first person accounts of how polio affected lives in Walking Fingers. True stories told by Canadians who lived and continue to live with polio.
United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt contracted polio when he was 39 years old. He leveraged his financial and social influence to fund American research. His work was instrumental in the founding of what would later become the March of Dimes and the discovery of the Salk vaccine.
Roosevelt's personal struggle with polio greatly influenced the tone and direction of his presidency. Children and adults can learn more about his bravery in these titles.
FDR's Warm Springs, Georgia retreat continues to be a place of respite, healing, restoration and empowerment. It's now a popular travel destination.
How effective was that "iron lung"? The negative pressure ventilator is not a total phenomenon of the past. This Oklahoma woman has lived for over 60 years in one. A Texas man survives today because of one. And they are worried about polio's resurgence in some places in the world. Will polio ever really be eradicated?
Now, let's get up from the computer and go for a little walk in the sun. Just because we can.
4 thoughts on “Surviving the “Summer Plague”: The Struggle to Beat Polio”
I’m really interested in this topic (both because virology is fascinating and partly because my dad had polio) and I also really like Philip Roth’s Nemesis – good solid adult fiction on the topic of polio, contagion, the effect on the community, and a lifetime of regret.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Alice. Polio happened in my extended family and its legacy has been tough. Thanks for the book suggestion too! My fellow blogger Margaret shared great reading about epidemics earlier this year: https://blogs.tpl.ca/bookbuzz/2015/02/epidemics.html
Thank you so much for this post. Alice, Marie – perhaps you’re both interested in checking out this Walrus story, “When Polio Walked the Earth”: http://thewalrus.ca/when-polio-walked-the-earth/
Thank you Jennifer! That Walrus story is an excerpt from Peter Kavanagh’s book The Man Who Learned to Walk Three Times, available at TPL. http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3196543&R=3196543 He’s appearing at Don Mills Branch on September 30, and Beaches Branch on November 19. His story is compelling, devastating and horrific. It will be a gripping author event.