The question being asked over and over again, “Can polio be eradicated by 2018?” Although this is the goal for the world, is this goal realistic? No one knows the answer for sure or even necessarily the right way to go about doing this. There are many ideas and opinions about if this can happen. I believe that it is going to be very difficult to eradicate polio by 2018. There are a lot of obstacles that need be overcame before this can happen. Obstacles with getting vaccines to everyone, violence in many countries, and people’s willingness to get the vaccination are only a few of the obstacles that are being faced right now. In the world there are currently still three countries that have not stopped polio, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. …show more content…
People in Nigeria do not trust their government and there are many health problems in Nigeria. Many of the people do not think that polio vaccinations are a huge problem in Nigeria. They think that there are other bigger health issues that the government should be focusing on. This makes people suspicious of the vaccine, thus refusing it. There are many other concerns in this area too, including lack of sanitation, water supply, other life threatening diseases, and malnutrition. Many of the people also live on less than a dollar a day (Abimbola, Malik, & Mansoor, 2013). With all of these other issues, it makes sense that the people are leery of the vaccination and do not want it. It will take a lot for the government to get everyone’s trust and that might not ever even …show more content…
Different countries and even different part of countries may require a high dose of the vaccine. This can be affected by the sanitation, water supply, density of population and other variables that cause people to be more susceptible. Depending on where people live depends on how their immunity is. It takes time and patience to discover that in countries and what dose of the vaccine people need. With this also comes the need for more research on the polio vaccination. The oral vaccine has a low efficacy. There is also the problem with vaccine derived polio (Maher, 2013). Even after polio is eradicated there are going to be more issues to deal with. There are not going to be aid workers going out and vaccinating everyone. The people that are in the small, hard to reach towns are not going to get the vaccination. The aid workers are already having a hard time reaching these people and when they make less than a dollar a day, how are they supposed to get the vaccine (Maher, 2013)? What if wild polio virus reintroduces itself? What about vaccine derived polio virus? What is going to happen when these are introduced and how are we going to prevent them from
There is a war going on against parents that refuse to vaccinate their children. It is coming from the government that makes and enforces laws requiring parents to vaccinate their children, hostile parents of vaccinated children, and doctors that refuse to see unvaccinated children. They are concerned about the potential health risk unvaccinated children pose to the public. These parents aren’t lunatics but are concerned parents that are trying to make the best choice for their children. In fact, these parents aren’t fighting alone; a number of pediatricians and medical experts are apart of this crusade and have taken the lead. They will tell you there is an agenda, “Vaccine manufacturers, health officials, medical doctors, lead authors of important studies, editors of major medical journals, hospital personnel, and even coroners, cooperate to minimize vaccine failings, exaggerate benefits, and avert any negative publicity that might frighten concerned parents, threaten the vaccine program and lower vaccination rates.” 4
In the United States there was a vicious enemy everyone feared. In the 1950s the United States was under attack by the ruthless Poliomyelitis virus. Americans lived in constant fear of their children contracting this horrible virus that left many children paralyzed. During the outbreaks in the 1950s foundations were created to fund research and create awareness to help find a way to eradicate the virus. Americans become focused on doing anything in their power to fight this virus off. Jonas Salk’s Exploration of Medicine and research led to the creation of the Polio vaccine that united the country, prevented further outbreaks, and introduced a new form of treatment which has limited the fatality of polio infections today.
At first polio was a troubling prospect when it first reared its ugly head in the United States of America. In a noble effort to be rid of polio, America as a whole was to adopt stringent sanitation measures. Everywhere, especially the home was to be spotless and clean in order to try and prevent the contraction of polio. This coupled with the view that America as a western nation seemed impervious to such a lowly disease tried to assuage American fear of the disease. Despite the measures commonly adopted throughout the myriad of cities and towns, polio still managed to spread around the country and wreak havoc taking thousands of lives. An outbreak that ravaged America claimed nearly 27,000 lives in a terrible reckoning before it finally subsided. This and several other troubling outbreaks
State vaccine mandates for children entering schools and daycare facilities to be up to date or they are not allowed to attend for the safety of other children (billington). Since 2008, global immunization levels for essential childhood vaccines have remained constant around the 80% mark. Over 1.5 million children die annually from diseases that can be prevented by vaccines. One in five babies around the world are missing out on basic vaccines and may die from weak health systems and insufficient funding. UNICEF and its partners are working to change these numbers and ensure that all children are successfully protected with vaccines.
Paralytic poliomyelitis, "polio", held a reign of terror over this nation for decades. But unless you were born before 1955, polio may seem to be just another ephemeral disease that has been nonexistent for years. Those born before 1955 remember having a great fear of this horrible disease which crippled thousands of once active, healthy children. This disease had no cure and no identified causes, which made it all the more terrifying. People did everything that they had done in the past to prevent the spread of disease, such as quarantining areas, but these tactics never seemed to work. Polio could not be contained. Many people did not have the money to care for a family member with polio. This was one of the reasons the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis was organized. The March of Dimes, the fund raiser headed by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, raised thousands and thousands of dollars to help people care for their polio stricken family members and to aid in the cost of research for a vaccine that would put an end to this misery that affected the lives of so many people.
Fifty-nine years after the vaccine was introduced to the world, the number of cases of outbreaks has dropped 99% and only three countries still remain in an epidemic state with the virus, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 1994, the WHO Region of the Americas was certified polio-free and in in 2013 only406 reported cases were existent in the world, compared to the 350 000+ cases in 1988. (Who, 2014).
Diseases can affect populations and regions throughout the world. However, the low-income countries are affected more due to the lack of capacity and training to address these challenges. Similarly, polio may not seem an issue in the developed countries, yet it remains endemic in many countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria1. Oral polio vaccine (Sabin) or OPV is the vaccine of preference in such endemic areas owing to easier administration. Not only can it be easily administered, but it can also be dispensed by workers or volunteers without much formal training2.
Polio: An American Story describes a struggle to find a vaccine on polio through several researchers’ lives, and over the course of many years. The second thesis is the struggle between Salk and Sabin, two bitter rivals who had their own vaccine that they believed would cure polio. The author David M. Oshinsky, is describing how difficult it was to find the cure to a horrifying disease, which lasted from the Great Depression until the 1960’s. Oshinsky then writes about how foundations formed as fundraisers, to support polio research. Lastly, the author demonstrates how researchers were forced to back track on multiple occasions, to learn more about polio.
Polio, also known as poliomyelitis, is a contagious disease which was first seen in England in 1789 by Michael Underwood. The first outbreaks were reported in early 19th century and it was first reported in United States in 1843. At first, there were no any treatments found against polio. The epidemics were increasing severely through northern hemisphere. 21,000 cases of paralytic polio were seen in United States in 1952. It took a longer time for polio to be recognized as a major problem in developing countries. As the disease was spreading very faster, first routine immunization was introduced worldwide in 1970s, to control the disease in many developing countries. Polio was eliminated from the western hemisphere in around 1994 because of the widespread vaccination.
When the polio vaccine was finally discovered, people all over America were inoculated. Still, there were scores of people who did not trust doctors, did not like the use of needles – and some who even feared that the vaccine would give their child polio. Anti-vaccine propaganda and rumors were spread to the public. Some of the unvaccinated number continued to contract the crippling and deadly disease. But occurrence of polio is almost, or totally, nonexistent in the United States today, thanks to the success of this cure -- and the backing of the U.S. Government.
Many people come to the United States of America in order to live freely and make choices based on their personal morals. Considering the fact that America is known for being the “land of the free”, people should be able to choose whether or not they want to get vaccinated. People should have the right to reject vaccinations for whatever reason it may be, whether it’s religious beliefs, health concerns, or lack of belief in the vaccination systems. Personally, Vaccinations have benefited me and my health, and I choose to get vaccinated. I choose to get vaccinated because I strongly believe in a way it helps build my immune system and keeps me from getting sick or catching diseases. However, people have different beliefs than mine. Therefore
The discovery of the polio vaccine was an important medical and scientific breakthrough because it saved many lives since the 1950s. In the summer of 1916 the great polio epidemic struck the United states. By the 1950s hundreds of thousands of people had been struck by the poliomyelitis. The highest number of cases occurred in 1953 with over 50,000 people infected with the virus.
Upon liability being lifted from vaccine manufactures, there was a dramatic spike in how many more vaccines were added to the vaccine schedule. (see figure). Many of these vaccines are unnecessary as the diseases they target have essentially disappeared. “There is no reason to vaccinate against diseases that no longer occur in the United States. The CDC reported no cases or deaths from diphtheria between 2003 and 2011 in the United States. Fewer than 51 cases and 10 deaths per year from tetanus were reported between 1994 and 2011. Polio has been declared eradicated in the United States since 1979. There have been fewer than 25 deaths yearly from mumps since 1968. There have been fewer than 21 deaths yearly from rubella since 1971 and on
Imagine a fatal disease that you could not see, touch, cure, or hear. This deadliest disease is known as the polio virus. The polio virus causes paralysis of the arms, legs, and chest muscles. The disease used to be called “infantile paralysis”, because it was most common in children. Many could no longer walk again without the use of leg braces. Others could not breathe without the help of machines. This disease caused terror all over the world. People couldn’t figure out how it came about, who the victims would be, or how to cure it. Today, polio does not exist because of the incredible discovery of the polio vaccine. Jonas Salk freed the world from the deadly disease and the fear that encompassed it.
The cause of this infectious disease polio virus was discovered in 1908 by Karl Landsteiner. Polio had been in existence for many years in certain areas, the United States and Europe experienced polio in the 19th century, and the vaccine for this polio infection was developed in 1950, the introduction of the polio vaccine has seen the dramatic drop of polio cases per year from many hundreds of thousands. Effective effort by the World Health Organization and UNICEF would have resulted in the total eradication of this infectious viral disease polio, but in 2013 there were report by the World Health Organization of new cases in Syria. There are still some challenges faced by different Global Organization in the fight to control and eradicate polio. Public swimming pools were closed down as precaution against polio infection