Today’s Google Doodle is a tribute to Dr. Jonas Salk on his 100th birthday. Dr. Salk developed the first effective polio vaccine, which was made available for widespread use in 1955. In the early 1950’s there were tens of thousands of polio cases each year. In 1962, after the uptake of the polio vaccine, that number shrank to 910. In 1979 polio was considered eradicated in the United States.
Creating the polio vaccine was not an easy task. A massive clinical trial began in 1954, involving hundreds of thousands of health care workers, teachers, and other volunteers, and over one million children. These children were declared “Polio Pioneers” and given a card stating so, along with a piece of candy. The results that the vaccine was safe and effective were announced the following year.
Thanks to Dr. Salk polio is no longer feared throughout most of the world. The number of cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from 350,000 cases to the 416 reported in 2013. Although the vaccine has greatly decreased the incidence of polio, the fight continues today. Polio remains endemic in three countries: Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. However, with the help of Dr. Salk’s vaccine and the health care workers who risk their lives to deliver it to children in unstable parts of the world, we may someday see polio eradicated altogether.
Read more about Dr. Salk and the polio vaccine here and here
