Figure 1.--This unidentified cabinet card shows a group of children with disabilities. Most look to have been aflicted with possibility. It was probably taken in the early-1900s decade. At the time polio was becominf recognized as a major disease problem affecting children. It was becoming a major concern for parents. The photograph shows children at an unamed residential facility, probably in Ohio. (It looks to be residentil neigborhood, but gh children are from different cities.) The boy at left walks with crutches and a leg brace, the polio or schooliosis sufferer at center with both a neck and leg brace. Children at right appear to need the support of the wall. The little sailors leg bends awkwardly and girl behind sits on a lap with board straight legs that may also be braced. Some diseases strike children of the poor more than the welthy. These would apper to be children from families in comfortable means by the way they are dressed and the fact their parents could afford residential care. They are identified by name and home on the reverse. Click on the image to see their names. The caretaker was a Miss Larue.

Polio has a unique history. It was almost never reported before the late-19th century. Then after the turn of the century, polio quickly became one of the most feared diseases. Certainly the disease existed before the 20th century. Sanitation is effective in preventing many illnesses. Ironically it was modern improvements in sanitation that appear to have turned polio into a major public health problem. Polio in Europe became known as the Swedish disease. Sweden which made substantial progress in public sanitation was one of countries most severely affected by polio. Some of the earliest research on poliomyelitis (polio) was conducted by Swedish scientists. Researchers disagreed on whether polio could prevented by a vaccine. Some thought polio to virulent to addressed by inoculation. Finally after decades of research, Dr. Jonas Salk in the 1950s developed an effective vaccine.

Early History

Polio has a unique history. It was almost never reported before the late 19th century. Often diseases are difficult to identify in early historical texts. By the 19th century, however, it is increasingly possible to understand what disease was involved. And it is very clear that polio only became a serious problem in the late-19th century. Then after the turn-of-the century, polio quickly became one of the most feared diseases. Certainly the disease existed before the 20th century. The problem is how to find evidence of a disease before it was diagnosed. This is especially true of a disease like polio in which really wide-spread epidemics seem to be a modern phenomenon. Historians are commonly faced with the difficulty of trying to ascertain just what diseases were involved in the lives of historical figures. The terms used at the time have little relationship to modern medicine. There are even disagreements about 19th and 20th century figures, let alone earlier periods. Historians have found what they believe to be evidence of polio in ancient civilizations, such as Egyptian art. Other evidence exists from many other periods. These indicators, however, are highly speculative.

Sanitation

Sanitation is effective in preventing many illnesses. Ironically it was modern improvements in sanitation that appear to have turned polio into a major public health problem. Poor sanitation before the 20th century may have exposed children to polio so that they developed an immunity. Improving sanitation in the late 19th and early 20th century seems to have reduced this natural immunization process.

Swedish Disease

Polio in Europe became known as the Swedish disease. Sweden which made substantial progress in public sanitation was one of countries most severely affected by polio. Some of the earliest research on poliomyelitis (polio) was conducted by Swedish scientists. Swedish physician Dr. Oskar Karl Medin (1847-1928) studied a polio outbreak (1890). He noted the epidemic nature of polio. Dr. Ivar Wickman was a student of Dr. Medin and had to confront a severe epidemic (1905). Wickman was the first researcher to theorize person-to-person transmission.

America

Polio also began to be reported in the United states. The biggest American epidemic was reported in New York City (1916). [Oshinsky] It did not receive the attention in might up, occurring as it did during World war I and just before the far more deadly Flu Epidemic (1919). There were many other epidemics, such as the one in Hickory, North Carolina in the 1930s. Ironically, for a disease which we now know to result in part from improvements in sanitation, it was largely believed at the time that it was poor European immigrants that introduced the disease. (Many early outbreaks occurred in cities and the disease was often referred go as the Swedish disease.)

Child Victims and Care

Polio was a particularly feared disease because it was so poorly understood, struck randomly, and most insidious of all mostly affected children. By the 1920s-50s huge numbers of children were being stricken by polio. Horrific images of children hobbled and dependent on crutches or even more tragically clinging to life in iron lungs haunted parents with small children. Facilities were created to deal with the needs of these children, including boarding facilities. Quite a number of the child victims were institutionalized. Poor families in particular had difficulties caring here for badly crippled children. In an age in which manual labor was more important than today, many polio victims were unable to support themselves when they became adults.

Extent

Medical studies suggest that millions of children were affected. There are about 0.6 million living survivors in the United States alone. A German reader writes, "A cousin of mine, an 8 year old girl, became an "easy" form, only a leg which she was not able to control. An uncle of mine, 36 years old, died in his mid-50s. My mother was working in a hospital, and so I have seen a hall with polio patients in iron lungs, mostly children but also adults, in the early 1950s, for me, 15 years old, a terrible view, I will not forget it."

Created: 1:34 AM 11/11/2018
Last updated: 1:34 AM 11/11/2018