50th Anniversary of the Salk Polio Vaccine:
Remembering A Medical Break-though

About Poliovirus | Vaccine Discovery | AAP Research Efforts | Global Eradication Efforts

About Poliovirus
Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is a disease caused by a virus. It enters a child's (or adult's) body through the mouth. Sometimes it does not cause serious illness, but it can causes paralysis. Polio can kill people who get it, usually by paralyzing the muscles that help them breathe. Polio used to be very common in the United States. It paralyzed and killed thousands of people a year before we had a vaccine for it.

Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) can prevent polio. Today, no wild polio has been reported in the United States for over 20 years. But the disease is still common in some parts of the world. It would only take one case of polio from another country to bring the disease back if we were not protected by vaccine. If the effort to eliminate the disease from the world is successful, some day we won't need polio vaccine. Until then, we need to keep getting our children vaccinated.

Vaccine Discovery
April 12, 1955, culminated more than 17 years of research that led to the licensure of the first poliovirus vaccine. The vaccine breakthrough was driven by Jonas Salk and his team of scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and the pioneering field trials led by Thomas Francis Jr. at the University of Michigan. The research was funded by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, today known as the March of Dimes.

The fight against polio brought together communities in a national collaboration that at that time was the largest human cooperative effort in history. In the days leading up to the vaccine's approval, children in communities across the United States participated in the field trials as America's "Polio Pioneers." The University of Michigan analyzed the results of the field trials to help ascertain the safety, effectiveness, and potency of the vaccine. Thousands of health-care workers and lay people volunteered their time to assist with the vaccine field trials, the largest ever in United States history. Millions of Americans participated by raising funds in their communities to support the larger research effort and a single goal: victory over polio.

Although polio was eliminated from the Americas in 1994, the disease still circulates in Asia and Africa, paralyzing the world's most vulnerable children. In a continually shrinking world, polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases remain only a plane ride away. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the CDC and UNICEF, was begun in 1988. That year, an estimated 350,000 children were paralyzed with polio worldwide; in 2004, polio cases had fallen to just over 1,200 cases globally. The Initiative's success will be a triumph of international co-operation, attesting to our ability to unite across borders and differences to conquer global afflictions.

April 12, 2005, marks the 50th anniversary of the first polio vaccine. Since the introduction of the vaccine, great strides have been made in significantly reducing the health impact of vaccine-preventable diseases on children and adults worldwide. Polio was eliminated in the U.S. because protecting the public's health was perceived as a simple necessity, and every effort was made to see that the vaccine would be freely distributed and polio would be eradicated. Since this effort 50 years ago, we can now protect children from more than 12 vaccine preventable diseases and disease rates have been reduced by 99% in the U.S. Yet, without diligent efforts to maintain immunization programs here and strengthen them worldwide, the diseases seen 50 years ago remain a threat to our children.

  • The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases invites immunization advocates and others to actively promote and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the polio vaccine. Visit their Web site for a list of ideas, including sample opinion editorial pieces on polio and vaccines, background information, timeline, photos, and more.

March of Dimes - The Fight Against Polio

  • From Polio to Prematurity: Timeline
    The March of Dimes fight for infant health began in 1938 with the effort to eradicate polio and continues today with the fight against premature birth. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Salk Vaccine, the March of Dimes created an interactive timeline complete with short stories, audio, and video clips to chronicle the eradication of polio in the United States.
  • March of Dimes: Memories of Polio
    Were you a part of polio history? Submit your experience or view stories from polio pioneers, survivors, volunteers, and others.
  • To commemorate the Salk Vaccine breakthroughs of 1954-1955, the March of Dimes is offering a special collection of historical items: from a photographic chronicle of the Foundation's achievements, to exclusive, collectible photographs not previously available to the general public, to a commemorative set of note cards. Notable images include photos of Marilyn Monroe, Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra supporting the eradication of polio at various fundraising events.
  • Dr Jonas Salk and his team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are credited with the development of the first polio vaccine. In 1955, the results of the Salk Polio Vaccine clinical trial were announced and the vaccine was approved for widespread use. "The Shot Heard 'Round the World: Development of the Salk Polio Vaccine" describes the polio epidemic, which peaked in 1952 and struck nearly 58,000 people - mostly children and young adults. Some were unable to breathe on their own and were confined to a mechanical ventilator, or iron lung. Others, not paralyzed by the ravages of polio, were crippled by the disease and used crutches for the rest of their lives.
  • In celebration of the 50th anniversary and the accomplishments realized through the development of the polio vaccine, the University of Pittsburgh is planning a commemorative reception on April 10 and a scientific symposium on April 11-12. Interested in attending the community celebration? Interested in attending the scientific symposium?
  • In April, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will mark the 50th Anniversary of the Polio Vaccine. A new exhibition will explore the complicated history of a medical miracle. Significant objects to be displayed include a syringe used during the clinical trials in 1954 and 1955 by Dr Salk; an iron lung; a chest respirator; objects from disability activists Justin Dart, who was instrumental in the Americans with Disabilities Act and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Ed Roberts, who integrated the U.C. Berkeley campus in the 1960s and was a founder of the independent living movement; a gene synthesizer; equipment used today by vaccinators in India and Africa; and leg braces worn by President Franklin D. Roosevelt--the most famous polio survivor in America. A particularly intriguing object from the museum's collections is a piece of 70-year-old cake from one of the Birthday Ball fundraisers held by the March of Dimes in honor of President Roosevelt. A special companion Web site will be available to commemorate the anniversary.


PROS (Pediatric Research in Office Settings) is a practice-based research network established by the AAP in 1986. As of January 2004, PROS consists of 1,938 pediatric practitioners from 701 practices in 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada, teamed with a research staff at AAP headquarters in Elk Grove Village, IL and research consultants from around the country. The network has experienced steady growth since its inception. The PROS study team developed the Polio Immunization Delivery Study (PIDS) in collaboration with the Pediatric Section of the National Medical Association and representatives of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Specific study aims include:

  1. Determine the effect of the change from an all-oral-polio-vaccine schedule to a sequential inactivated/oral schedule on the immunization status of infants followed by practicing pediatricians.
  2. Determine the effect of practitioner practices and beliefs on the immunization status of their patients.
  3. Determine the optimal method for determining practice-specific immunization rates.

Data collection by PROS and the National Medical Association for the PIDS is complete. One hundred sixty (160) PROS practitioners enrolled 13,213 patients in the study; 17 NMA practitioners enrolled 858 patients. The main study dataset is being finalized and manuscript writing has begun in earnest. Data collection for the Clinical Assessment Software Application substudy of PIDS, which will assess the best method for determining immunization rates, has concluded. Fifty-five practices participated in the substudy. Thirty-five practices completed data collection and another 13 practices returned some data.

Immunization practices/referrals regarding use of IPV/OPV, DTaP/DTP

Global Polio Eradication Efforts
Vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio are global issues. Although polio has been eliminated from the United States and the Americas, the disease still circulates in Asia and Africa paralyzing the world's most vulnerable children. In a continually shrinking world, polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases are only a plane ride away. Success in globally eradicating polio would be a triumph of international co-operation, attesting to our ability to unite across borders and differences to conquer global afflictions.

Rotary International - Polio Plus Campaign
In the early 1980s, Rotary began planning for the most ambitious program in its history - to immunize all of world's children against polio. In 1985, Rotary launched the PolioPlus program to protect children worldwide from the cruel and fatal consequences of polio. In 1988, the World Health Assembly challenged the world to eradicate polio. Since that time, Rotary's efforts and those of partner agencies, including the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and governments around the world, have achieved a 99 percent reduction in the number of polio cases worldwide.


**Each year, the AAP honors national officials and organizations for distinguished service on behalf of children and adolescents and their health care. In February 2004, the AAP presented its Excellence in Public Service Award to Rotary International for its work to eradicate polio worldwide.

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