Term paper on Polio Vaccine Discovered

Polio Vaccine Discovered

term paper RESOURCE GUIDE

Poliomyelitis was one of the most feared epidemic diseases of the twentieth century. In 1952 alone, it struck 50,000 Americans, killing more than 3,000 of them. Dr. Jonas E. Salk discovered a vaccine for this crippling disease that could be derived from the inactive virus itself, and in 1955 nearly 2,000 schoolchildren were inoculated with his vaccine. The following year Dr. Albert Sabin perfected an oral vaccine that derived from the live virus. The work of both men led to the rapid decline of the disease.
Suggestions for Term Papers

1. Discuss the prevaccine attempts to combat polio.

2. Discuss Franklin D. Roosevelt ‘s personal battle against polio.

3. Discuss Dr. Jonas Salk’s discovery of the first polio vaccine.

4. Discuss Dr. Albert Sabin and the discovery of the oral polio vaccine.

5. Analyze the battle for public vaccination of schoolchildren.

GENERAL SOURCES

Black, Kathryn. In the Shadow of Polio: A Personal and Social History . Reading , MA : Addison-Wesley, 1996. An interesting narrative, part biography and part history, of a polio victim and her treatment.

Daniel, Thomas M., and Frederick C. Robbins, eds. Polio . Rochester , NY : University of Rochester , 1997. Historical narrative on the fight against polio in the twentieth century.

Gould, Tony. A Summer Plague: Polio and Its Survivors . New Haven , CT : Yale University Press, 1995. Detailed history of polio and its victims; recalls the fear of the summer seasons, when polio struck.

Munsat, Theodore, ed. Post-Polio Syndrome . Boston : Butterworth-Heinemann, 1991. Brief collection of essays on polio and its complications.

Rogers, Naomi. Dirt and Disease: Polio before FDR . New Brunswick , NJ : Rutgers University Press, 1992. Informative history of the disease in the United States . In the Health and Medicine in American Society series.

Sink, Alice E. The Grit behind the Miracle: A True Story of the Determination and Hard Work behind an Emergency Infantile Paralysis Hospital, 1944–1945, Hickory, North Carolina . Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1998. Interesting and informative case history of a polio hospital.

SPECIALIZED SOURCES

Carter, Richard. Breakthrough: The Saga of Jonas Salk . New York: Trident, 1966. Detailed examination of the discovery of the polio vaccine.

Klein, Aaron E. Trial by Fury: The Polio Vaccine Controversy . New York: Scribner, 1972. Examination of the controversy regarding use of the polio vaccination on the population.

Smith, Jane S. Patenting the Sun: Polio and the Salk Vaccine . (1990). Reprint. New York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1991. Good historical account of polio and use of the vaccine in the United States.

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Bredeson, Carmen. Jonas Salk: Discoverer of the Polio Vaccine . Hillside, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1993. Brief and easy-to-read description of Salk’s life and career, including his work on influenza and AIDS.

Curson, Marjorie. Jonas Salk . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Silver Burdett, 1990. Easy-to-read treatment of Salk’s work on the polio vaccine. In the publisher’s Pioneers in Change series.

Sherrow, Victoria. Jonas Salk . New York: Facts on File, 1993. Brief and interesting biographical portrait of the scientist who created the polio vaccine.

Tomlinson, Michael. Jonas Salk . Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Publications, 1993. Easy-to-read, brief account of Salk and his pursuit of the polio vaccine.

AUDIOVISUAL SOURCES

A World of Ideas with Bill Moyers: The Science of Hope with Jonas Salk . Santa Monica, CA: PBS Home Video, 1990. Interesting interview with Dr. Salk conducted by Bill Moyers for public television.

WORLD WIDE WEB

‘‘ ‘Sabin Sundays’ Helped Wipe Out Polio.” Insiders’ Guide to Cincinnati . July 1997. http://insiders.com/cincinnati/sb-healthcare2.htm Interesting description of the period in 1960 when thousands of Cincinnati schoolchildren were administered the vaccine developed by Sabin, a local physician.