Timeline of Polio
What is Polio?
Polio, or Poliomyelitis is a disabling disease caused by the Poliovirus.
Symptoms typically last 2-5 days and can include sore throat, fever, tiredness, headache and stomach pain. A small percentage of polio patients develop more serious symptoms affecting the brain and the spinal cord. These symptoms can transform to paresthesia (feeling of pins and needles in the legs), meningitis (infection of the brain and/or spinal cord) or paralysis or weakness in the arms, legs, or both.
Paralysis is the most severe symptom associated with polio, it can lead to permanent disability and death.
Today there is two vaccines that can prevent polio. The vaccine protects people by preparing their bodies to fight the poliovirus with a success rate of 99%. Polio is nearly eradicated across the entire globe.
History
Outbreaks of polio date back to Ancient Egypt. In the early twentieth century, polio began to occur in epidemic numbers across Canada.
Known as the middle class plague, the increased incidence of the disease, especially among children, is attributed to improvements in modern sanitation that caused humans to lose their natural immunity.
Until the discovery of a vaccine in 1955, there were resurgences of polio across Canada almost every summer with a major outbreaks in Ontario in 1937, 1953, and 1978.
1937
During the summer and fall of 1937, 2500 cases of polio were reported in Ontario, causing 119 deaths. In an attempt to stop the spread of polio, town and cities across Southwestern Ontario delayed openings of multiple school boards. Swimming pools, movie theatres, and other public spaces were closed in order to limit the spread.
Around this time, a nasal spray to prevent polio was tested in the United States. A clinical trial began in Ontario. Canadian scientist, Dr. Maurice Brodie, explained to the American Public Health Association in October 1937 that "while the spray was effective in protecting laboratory monkeys, results were not encouraging so far as human beings were concerned."
Brantford Expositor, 7 October, 1937.
1953
Polio season was an ingrained part of every summer and early fall. The Brantford Expositor tracked each case by location, age group, and severity of the symptoms. In 1953, the Brant County Health Unit reported 16 cases by September. Thirteen of those cases were children under twelve. Ten involved paralysis.
Brantford's Bunnell Hitchon Insurance Brokers tried to temper the fear of polio by selling Polio Insurance to individuals and families.
Brantford Expositor, August 1953.
1955
The fight for the polio vaccine was a monumentous one. Following the scientific struggle to 'conquer the crippler' was a frequent news item in Brant County and Brantford.
1955 was a major year in the fight against polio. The Salk vaccine that had been in development for years was proven to work! Later that year, the vaccine was administered to school children in Brantford. A few interviewees remember the momentous occasion of getting the vaccine themselves.
Brantford Expositor, 13 April, 1955.
1978
While widespread vaccination ended the annual threat of polio, a resurgence occurred in 1978 imported from the Netherlands. In Norwich County, Southwestern Ontario, members of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation, a sect opposing inoculations, contracted the illness from Dutch visitors. Six local people were confirmed to have contracted polio in August of 1978. A total of 90 people were quarantined.
Nearby Brantford became the centre of a new wave of immunizations of adults and children in the surrounding area. According to the Brant County Annual Report for 1978, the total number of vaccination doses distributed was 46,197, of which 20,545 were distributed at Brant County Health Unit Clinics.
Brantford Expositor, 11 August, 1978.