Experiencing The Polio Epidemic :: Disease History Historical Essays

Experiencing The Polio Epidemic It was in the middle of September the focal ratio side of summer and the temperature was somewhere in the high eighties, and under normal pot there would be a long line of people, especially kids time lag to dive into the huge indoor jackpot at the Mission shore Plunge. However, these were non ordinary times, the only people anywhere near the pool were there to forlornly gaze at the crystal clear peeing and wonder what deadly monster might be lurking in its depth. It was in the middle of the summer of 1952, and it was in the middle of the polio epidemic that would dab more than 60,000 people and kill more than 3,000 of them in the United States alone.1As a young boy I did not know what energized the paralyzing epidemic, in fact I am sure the adults did not know the cause either. But, we had been told to stay away from swimming pools and drinking fountains because it seemed that anyone who did not heed the monition was sure to come down wi th the deadly disease. At school and in stores there were posters of children and young adults on crutches with heavy metal braces cloaked around their lower legs. Next to these posters, an organization cal direct the March of Dimes placed a clear plastic canister for people to put money in for finding a cure for the deadly illness. Fear and guilt seemed to settle in the atmosphere, because although no one knew what caused the virus, everyone seemed to feel it was something they did that caused them to get sick. Parents especially, felt unlawful because they were overwhelmed with the unknown, and the thought of one of their children becoming paralyzed or worse, dying, always led to almost daily admonitions to stay away from the drinking fountains and away from pools where groups of strangers swam. in that respect seemed to be a general consensus that the disease was water borne. Waking up with flu like symptoms such as a mild upper respiratory infection, diarrhea, fever, sor e throat or just generally not feeling well, would cause instant concern. My brothers and sisters and I inherited our fathers sinus problems and allergies and we regularly had some type of symptom of an oncoming cold or flu. still knowing we had hereditary respiratory problems, my mother would fall into a ample silence of concern whenever we showed signs of not feeling well.