The polio vaccine is a vaccine against poliomyelitis, a disease that can cause paralysis and death and that struck mainly children. The American physician Jonas Salk developed the first successful vaccine, made from killed poliovirus, and it was tested on a small group of patients. A huge field trial followed, involving over a million children, and in 1955 the vaccine was declared safe and effective. Salk famously declined to patent it. Albert Sabin later developed an oral vaccine, made from weakened virus, which was easier to give and was widely adopted in the early 1960s. Vaccination campaigns have reduced polio by more than 99 per cent worldwide, and the disease remains endemic in only a few countries.
Before and after
- 8 September 1951Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan
- 28 September 1951Discovery of Ananke
- 29 September 1951Birth of Michelle Bachelet
- 2 October 1951Birth of Sting
- 1952Polio vaccine
- 1952Discovery of einsteinium
- 1952Publication of Waiting for Godot
- 1952Construction of Helsinki Airport
- 1952Founding of WWE
More in Science & technology
- 1949Discovery of berkelium
- 1955Discovery of mendelevium
- 14 February 1961Discovery of lawrencium
- 8 December 1994Discovery of roentgenium
- 1996Discovery of copernicium
- 2006Discovery of nihonium
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.