Virus – New York City – 1916 (and 2022)

Polio Virus – New York City – 2022

I read a little blurb today about the discovery of polio virus in the wastewater in New York City.

This reminded me of a post I wrote in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here’s the front end of that post.

We’ve been down this road before. So, let’s learn from the past, deal with today and prepare for the future.

Then

New York City experienced more than 2000 deaths in 1916 due to a virus that has been around at least since the Roman Emperor Claudius was stricken – poliomyelitis (aka, polio). However, it was not until the late 1800s that it took on epidemic proportions and the summer of 1916 saw it hit New York City, mainly the crowded borough of Brooklyn.

Whereas the current virus, COVID-19, seems to go after older adults, polio was the scourge of children. So, what did we do over 100 years ago? Well, we closed pools, amusement parks and places where children would congregate. Same then as today – quarantine and social distancing were used and expected.

Now

And in spite of our current wish for a universal Covis / Flu vaccine soon, we have to look to history for guidance. The polio vaccine was not widely administered until 1955 after Dr. Salk had completed massive testing across America.

We would love to have a safe and effective universal vaccine  now, but I suggest we don’t get our hopes up. Science is certainly more advanced at the beginning of the 21^st century than it was in the first half of the 20^th century, but scientific solutions take time.  

In addition to polio, science tackled cholera, measles, Ebola, SARS, and HIV/AIDS.

Polio and measles were supposedly eradicated but will come back unless enough people are vaccinated against them and the “herd effect” stays intact. (Note to anti-vaccers: your children will be at risk.)

What about the future? Well, a lesson from the past was that spending resources on public health paid off. Let’s hope our federal and community leaders have enough wisdom to learn from the past to prepare for the future. This is not a political issue; it’s a medical issue!