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The history of polio in the US 1950's  

post #1 of 37
11/3/07 at 11:59am
Thread Starter 
EVERYONE READ THIS.
PLEASE, PLEASE READ THIS, GUYS.

They were scanned in reverse order, so you have start with the bottom one on the righthand side.
http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...olio/?start=20

If you have any questions about what something means, don't be afraid to ask.
post #2 of 37
11/3/07 at 12:08pm
Are there any particular highlights you'd like to point out?
post #3 of 37
11/3/07 at 12:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by amnesiac View Post
Are there any particular highlights you'd like to point out?
:
post #4 of 37
11/3/07 at 12:55pm
So far this page http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...ent=img647.jpg and the very last one on the page have been quite interesting (the first though I guess).

I'm not close to being done reading.
post #5 of 37
11/3/07 at 1:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by amnesiac View Post
Are there any particular highlights you'd like to point out?

This page…right hand column…talks about how they changed the definition of polio (earlier they admitted it was done to artifically drive the numbers down)…

http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...ent=img619.jpg


~~~~~~~~~~~
Here...
Start reading the paragraph on the righthand side that starts with:

“The thing that impresses me most about this question of polio vaccine is a problem that has been discussed only by indirection…”

http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...ent=img623.jpg

His analysis of the situation in the 50’s is a prefect summary of where we’re still at to this day with mass vaccination programs.


~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok…on this page…lefthand column….
Remember the old killed measles vaccine and the old RSV vaccines that got pulled for causing enhanced infections in the vaccinated upon challenge with the wild viruses?

Someone here asks Dr.Cox “Are we doing any harm by using this vaccine?” and what he describes happenng is what we know now to be a phenomenon called “antibody mediated disease enhancement”….where you partially immunize people and make the disease WORSE when they run into the wild thing later:
http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...ent=img627.jpg
post #6 of 37
11/3/07 at 3:51pm
I was just reading the WHO's polio eradication strategy/report, and if I'm reading it right, as of 2006 none of their statistics differentiated between wild poliovirus and vaccine strains; meaning that they're keeping very good track of how many cases of polio they're seeing, and to how many people they've administered the vaccine, but of all the cases they keep seeing, they don't know how many are wild-caught and how many were actually passed around from the vaccines. They've implemented a plan to do PCR and ELISA cultures from the samples they're getting for this year, but all their previously compiled data makes no distinction between wild and vaccine-type poliovirus. Which, if I have my logic hat on straight, means they have absolutely no idea if they're doing harm or good by running around Africa dosing people with OPV. In light of this amazing article you posted, mk, as far back as 1960 they knew it wasn't doing any good. So that's 40+ years of artificially spreading a disease around the third world, a disease that could have ceased to be a problem by the middle of the twentieth century.
Amazing.
post #7 of 37
11/3/07 at 4:06pm
I am still reading this, but there is some great stuff in here, from professional scientists, about how professional scientists can make mistakes.

Every page has a gem. Print it out and put it in the bathroom or something.
post #8 of 37
11/3/07 at 9:35pm
Printed it out and will start reading tonight.
post #9 of 37
11/4/07 at 1:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wallacesmum View Post
I am still reading this, but there is some great stuff in here, from professional scientists, about how professional scientists can make mistakes.

Every page has a gem. Print it out and put it in the bathroom or something.
seriously!

I'm almost half way through but I have some questions.

1. Who exactly were these dr's ?
2. Was this article/transcript available to the public at the time it was written?


Also, I'm getting the sense that even though they thought the Salk vaccine wasnt working at best and continuing to infect non-infected people at least....they didnt want to soil the name of science so they kept pushing it?
post #10 of 37
11/4/07 at 2:00am
Is page 641 missing, or is the numbering just a bit off?
post #11 of 37
11/4/07 at 3:56am
Thread Starter 
The numbering is just off...
post #12 of 37
11/4/07 at 10:59am
I really want to print this out but my printer is in the attic and won't be set up until we get a computer desk at this house (we moved last month). It was killing me head reading it on-line.

It is a very interesting read though!
post #13 of 37
11/4/07 at 12:48pm
I scanned over this last night, and its`absolutely fascinating... saved to my ipod for futer reference at home
post #14 of 37
11/4/07 at 6:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wallacesmum View Post
Print it out and put it in the bathroom or something.
Better yet, slip it onto a table in the ped's waiting room ...
post #15 of 37
12/27/07 at 12:24am
this link

http://www.post-polio.org/ir-usa.html

has completely different stats than the scanned pages

There was a large jump in cases of polio from 1958 to 1959 but then it went back down again in 1960. From these stats, it appears that the scanned file is wrong, possibly because it is so old. It is probably outdated.
post #16 of 37
12/27/07 at 1:02am
subbing...
post #17 of 37
12/27/07 at 1:34am
just printed it out and am going to read it later!
post #18 of 37
12/27/07 at 5:06am
Subbing, reading.

ETA thanks for the link, very interesting!
post #19 of 37
12/27/07 at 5:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by delphiniumpansy View Post
this link

http://www.post-polio.org/ir-usa.html

has completely different stats than the scanned pages

There was a large jump in cases of polio from 1958 to 1959 but then it went back down again in 1960. From these stats, it appears that the scanned file is wrong, possibly because it is so old. It is probably outdated.
why would the stats from those years be wrong if it is old? i would expect the older stats to be closer to the truth, really. where did they get the numbers for before 73?
I only see a reference for the numbers for after 73 from the cdc. the other numbers seem to be from a questionnaire...
post #20 of 37
12/27/07 at 6:46am
Quote:
why would the stats from those years be wrong if it is old? i would expect the older stats to be closer to the truth, really
I am not sure why you would expect that since in the paper itself they discuss poor statistics from years earlier. Are you suggesting that people are getting less and less honest over time? I assure you that even if this were the case, they still have considerable room for dishonesty in the 1950s (think McCarthy, Stalin, Castro, oh, we could go on and on).

I am reading the paper and what it looks like to me is that they are discussing the Salk vaccine alone, and the inactivated vaccine. They are not discussing the OPV, which was later adopted for use. So doesn't this mean that they held the conference and adopted the more effective vaccine as a result? Or am I missing something?

Dr. Cox: "First let me say that I am convinced that the living virus vaccine is going to be the answer..."

I am glad we all have had the OPV, though, reading this.
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