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Polio has had a long and often deadly history, quickly becoming one of the most feared diseases throughout the 20th Century. The Polio virus favouring a warm humid environment, swept through cities and towns in mild epidemics every few years. These regions expressing a warm humid environment and poor sanitation, created a perfect environment in which to foster the growth of the virus. Although most individuals were asymptomatic or expressed relatively mild viral symptoms and quickly recovered, many individuals were left paralysed for extended periods of time, in some cases permanently.
The first medical/clinical description of Polio, was attempted by British physician Dr Michael Underwood, wherein he called it the “debility of the lower extremities”. At this point in time due to the lack of available technologies no further information had been discovered surrounding the condition. However in 1840, German physician Dr Jacob von Heine, conducted an investigation surrounding the condition, suggesting that it may in fact be contagious.
The first medical/clinical description of Polio, was attempted by British physician Dr Michael Underwood, wherein he called it the “debility of the lower extremities”. At this point in time due to the lack of available technologies no further information had been discovered surrounding the condition. However in 1840, German physician Dr Jacob von Heine, conducted an investigation surrounding the condition, suggesting that it may in fact be contagious.
- 1894 – The first significant outbreak of the then known ‘Infantile Paralysis’ (Polio), occurs in the United States of America.
- 1907 – The different types of Polio are characterised by Swedish Paediatrician, Dr Ivar Wickman
- 1908 – Karl Landsteiner and Erwin Popper (Austrian Physicians) hypothesise that Polio may be caused by a virus.
- 1931 – Sir Macfarlane Burnet and Dame Jean MacNamara identify through investigation that there are several types of the Polio virus, known as types 1, 2 and 3.
- 1955 – Dr Jonas Salk develops the first vaccine against Polio - in the form of an injectable, killed (inactivated) polio vaccine (IPV)
- 1961 – Dr Albert Sabin develops a “live” oral vaccine against the poliovirus (OPV), which quickly became the most widely used vaccine internationally in national immunization programmes.
- 1988 – The world health assembly passes a resolution to eradicate the polio virus by 2000, after which the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is founded and launched.
- 1991 – The last endemic case of wild polio occurs in the WHO region of the Americas.
- 1994 – The World Health Organisation region of the Americas is certified polio-free. 80 Million Children in China are vaccinated against the virus, proving to be another major milestone in the eradication effort.
- 1997 – The last case of wild polio occurs in the WHO Western Pacific Region.
- 2006 – Only four endemic countries remain: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. Outbreaks in Yemen and Indonesia are successfully hindered.
The eradication effort for eliminating the Poliovirus, has proven to be effective through the implementation of national compulsory vaccination programmes for children and the increased awareness of the virus. As it stands now, there are less than 100 cases of Polio currently active globally, this can be seen in the diagram below.