Just finished reading "Epidemic! The Battle Against Polio" by Stephanie True Peters last night.
Some interesting facts from the book:
There are three kinds of polio virus, Type I is called Brunhilde, after a chimpanzee. Type II is called Lansing, after a town in Michigan. Lansing was the hometown of a man who died of polio. Type III is called Leon, after an 11 yro old boy from LA. The vaccine contains all three strains as antibodies that fight against one strain do not protect against the other two strains.
Wild Polio - Polio caught from the environment (not from another person) (my note/question/thought: Might it always be from another person and maybe appears to come from the environment, but we just don't know this yet?)
1979 was the last case of wild polio in the United States (that was recorded).
1991 was the last case of wild polio in the Western Hemisphere (that was recorded...and as of the writing of this book which was 2005).
1952 was the latest big polio epidemic in the US.
Dr. Jonas Salk, developed the first effective polio vaccine in the form of a killed virus given via shot.
Salk did two secret experiments on humans to test out his killed poliovirus vaccine - the first (spring 1952) was done on kids just outside of Pittsburgh who lived in the D.T. Watson Home for Crippled Children. Only the subjects (who had polio before) and the staff knew. The experiment was a total success as the blood samples from the kids had increased antibodies after getting the polio shot. The second trial (date? who were the subjects?) was conducted on humans who never had polio before. Luckily it too was a success as the people's antibody levels rose and they did not contract the virus.
In 1953, Salk got support from the research community and conducted his trials using a few hundred subjects at a time. Each trial produced positive outcomes.
In 1954, the National Federation of Infantile Paralysis (NFIP) sponsored a nationwide vaccination program using Salk's vaccine. It cost about 9 million dollars (back then!!) for 27 million doses of the vaccine. Of about two million children, 1/2 were given the vaccine and 1/2 were given a placebo. The trials were a success. In 1955, Salk received a license to market his vaccine. Doctors around the world could now vaccinate people.
Unfortunately, in April 1955, Cutter Laboratories in California made a batch of vaccine that mistakenly contained some lives viruses. 204 children contracted polio. Of those 204, 153 became paralyzed and 11 died. Note that some kids got it not via the shot, but by contracting it through those who received the shot. This made other manufacturers more careful, but it did not halt the vaccination campaign for polio.
The NFIP is now called the March of Dimes. This organization was created by FDR who contracted polio as an adult before becoming President and during a stay in Campobello Island in Canada in 1921. And today ..some doctors and scientists think that FDR actually had Gulliane-Barre syndrome, not polio. Other doctors and scientists still think he had polio.
- Intermission -
My own thoughts.....
.....With the use of Salk's (shot) vaccine, there is a chance that some virus might still be alive as per the incidence at Cuter Labs in April 1955. Guess those taking the shot choose to take the risk that the lab that made their vaccine batch used utmost care and sanitation. Page 56 of "Epidemic! The Battle Against Polio" book says, "Yet not everybody agreed that the Salk vaccine was the best. Some pointed to the Cutter Laboratories incident as proof that using a killed strain of the virus could be dangerous, since, they argued, ther was no way of knowing whether all the viruses had been killed. One person who raised his voice in loud opposition to Salk was Dr. Albert Sabin." And yet if a person gets the Sabin vaccine (live oral virus), it offers better protection, but more chance (maybe?....it depends on how careful those labs are making the killed virus I suppose) that one will contract the virus from the vaccine. Hmmm. Tough call. I got the live vaccine as a child. I remember being grateful it was an oral vaccine as I feared shots. I am so glad I did not contract the virus. What would people do if the virus resurfaced? If an epidemic broke out and I was not vaccinated, I would seriously consider either vaccine - both have their pros and cons as mentioned above. As of now, if I were unvaccinated for polio and stayed in the USA, I'd feel comfortable. However, if I were to travel to another country, I would research whether it would be wise to get the vaccine. Prudent decisions or not? Only time will tell. And each of these decisions are so very personal and should be decided by each individual - or they should be up to each individual!!.
- Back to the story....introducing Dr. Albert Sabin
and his live oral polio vaccine -
Dr. Albert Sabin believed live viruses to be better than killed virus for a polio vaccine. He found evidence that poliovirus entered the body through the mouth and created a live atttenuated oral vaccine. (attenuated virus means a weakened virus) He did his testing and further research overseas and finally got the attention of the World Health Organization(WHO). In 1957, WHO authorized the mass vaccination of children living in areas with polio epidemics, especiall Russia. By 1959, 4.5 millions of Russians had received the oral vaccine and polio had declined. This success got the attention of the United States and in 1960 Sabin's live polio vaccine was licensed in the USA. By 1965, oral vaccine was used most often all over the world. Polio in the USA decreased from 37,000 cases during 1951-1955 to approximately 600 cases in the early 1960's.
Oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) is responsible for causing vaccine-associated paralytic polio in one out of every 2.2 to 3.5 million people. Therefore, in 1999, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommended the Salk vaccine (shot of killed virus) instead of the Sabin OPV. However, in countries where wild polio still causes the disease (afghanistan, Pakistan, India, etc), OPV is still used and even preferred as OPV creates antibodies in the blood and blocks the virus from replicating in the intestinal tract. Because Salk's vaccine is injected, it does not enter the digestive tract and can allow the virus to replicate in the intestines.
It was once thought that polio was not even a virus. In 1908, Dr. Karl J. Landsteiner and Erwin Popper said that it was a virus. Yet in 1916, people still had crazy ideas (maybe due to the epidemic....they were fearful and panic stricken) - some thought animals passed it, others thought mosquitos passed it. Some even thought tarantulas injected the virus into bananas! It took time to discover that poliovirus enters through the mouth and replicates in the gut and is transferred via fecal matter. Usually a person caught the virus by drinking or swimming in contaminated water. (My note: But since it is a virus, I'd assume that any transmission of the virus to another person's mouth could obviously transmit it.)
Sister Kenny ("sister" means nurse in Austrailia), an Australian, invented a way to help polio victims. Because her ways were different than conventional treatments, doctors were not interested in her therapy. She wrote once that "the extraordinary attitude of the medical world in its readiness to condemn anything that smacked of reform or that ran contrary to approved methods of practice." She once wondered "how many promising discoveries have been consigned to oblivion without being given an opportunity to prove their worth." She later did come to the US, had great success here and was even invited to lunch with FDR! (I must read more about her!)
Since 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a joint venture of the WHO, CDC, UNICEF and Rotary International has been active in eradicating the disease.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Post Office
So, there we were downtown doing errands. We'd all eaten. We took our time getting out. All was good.
Went to the bank, paid taxes, went to the post office. I had a bag of misc little things to mail to two different people, two letters to drop off and needed to get two stamped envelopes. Simple, right? Bwaaa ha ha ha! I totally over-estimated what I could do with my baby in arms, my 4 yr old and my 8 yr old!
The lady at the desk was very helpful and kind. She boxed up one box and helped me find the cheapest mailer for the other things. She gave me two stamped envelopes and took the letters I wanted to drop off. But...all this took lots of time. There was lots going on. She looked up a zip code for me, she had a couple of questions to ask to figure out the proper postage, she had to ask for payment and then she forgot I already gave her my card and she just needed me to enter my pin number. That all seems like common stuff, right?
Well, as that is all happenning, so is this: Li is asking me questions about what we are using to mail stuff. I am answering the postal lady's questions and trying to write quickly to get it all done as baby is beginning to fuss in my arms. As I am trying to write, sometimes the baby pulls at my hair. My handwriting is less than stellar (like that matters at this point!). Kana is running about even though I asked her to stay by me. Didn't I ask her to stay by me? Maybe I didn't.don't recall for sure, but think I did. Well, I would hurry up and be done and get out of there! The nice lady gives us stickers (stuck in my pocket caus I needed my hands and felt overwhelmed and wanted to get done asap - will give them to the kids later). I fumble with my bag trying to organize everything (find my stamped letters to mail, make sure I have everything out of it I needed to mail, throw out the garbage). I have one mailer to stuff and address and still 2 envelopes to address. Kana hands me a finished sticky lollipop stick. I take it, then give it back and ask her to throw it in the trash behind her as I didn't want to leave my place in at the postal desk and I still have to address letters and a mailer. She doesn't do that. She places it up on the postal counter. I then move it aside and continue addressing, answering questions, answering Li's questions, etc. I then rid my bag of everything but garbage and then chuck Kana's lollipop stick in there. Li gives me his lollipop stick and I chuck it in the bag too. I ask Li to take the garbage bag and throw it out. He refuses, so I do it. Kana tells me she has to pee right now! I think about how I am almost done and think that maybe I could finish up quickly. I tell her I am hurrying and that I will get her to a bathroom as fast as I can as soon as we're done (as I truly thought we were almost done and I didn't want to come back and go through this again!). I asked Li to help stuff the mailer. He still is trying to ask me more questions. This is not a good time, wait until we're done! Can you help stuff this? Ahhh, he notices my letter going in with his videotapes. Oh, oh, he only wanted HIS stuff to be in the package. But Kana has to pee and the baby is getting upset! I say I am hurrying and I'll get her to the bathroom as fast as I can as soon as I am done. Li explains again that he only wanted HIS stuff in the package we are sending to Jene and that I should not have included my stuff in there too. The postal lady (trying to help) says that it will cost more if we send things separately and that if we open the package, it may rip. Li was even willing to pay. But due to Makana and baby, Li unhappily agrees to let it go. Oh and at one point when Li had been asking questions, I said that if he continued to talk to me I would scream...and I said this right in front of the whole post office! Ugh! Oh yeah, and then there was another point where Li said that Kana did something to him (can't recall, but he was mad and it seemed like they were beginning to fight) and so I told him to stay by me while I finish up. He moved away a bit. He then got my attention by telling me that this was really important (when the postal lady was trying to talk to me) and so I listened to him and he said that Makana hit him and kicked him when he went right there (he pointed). I said I was sorry she did that and to stay by me. He did stay by me. Perhaps that is when I had asked him to help with the mailer. Anyway, feeling like I should leave my postal office stuff and go and talk to Kana and tell her she can'ty do that to Li, etc, etc. But I didn't. I just wanted to be done and fast! And I thought that if Li stayed by me, she couldn't hurt him any more AND then I could finish and talk to her when we leave.
At some point toward the end I heard someone say that there were too many kids in here! What? Was that a joke or was it because my Kana was running about? I know I should have made her stay by me. Guess I didn't think it was such a big deal to let her roam in there. I truly thought she'd stay in the postal office, she just walks around it.
Also, there was one point when the other postal wkr said to Kana, "Stay where your Mommy can see you" in a kind and helpful way. I looked over toward where Kana was and said something (but don't recall what). People in line commented that they could see her. I knew she'd stay in the building and she did. But it is kind of humiliating when you feel so out of control and other people are making comments. And I felt inadequate as a parent not keeping her in line and quiet.
Kana said that she was just playing a game with Li when she kicked and hit him. Not a safe game to play!!! Not okay!!! I am feeling so frustrated with her!
Why don't my kids stand in line and stay next to me and be quiet?!!!! That IS what is expected from all patrons in the post office. I think I am going to have to do ALOT of explaining about what is expected in public places from now on. So perhaps this is not a failure, but a learning experience. Also, I could simply ask Jim to go. I do want my kids to learn how to act in public. However, perhaps we will give it some time before we revisit the post office. And I will remember to bring a stroller or leave the kids in the car with Katie (if possible) so I have two hands to write. Then the whole transaction will be quicker and easier on everyone. Even if I just had Makana it would have been easier! Oh well, there you go!
Oh man! So we go back to the bank to use the bathroom. We have to wait as someone is in the bathroom. Li drinks some water from the water dispenser. I tell Kana to wait before having some as she has to pee so bad I don't know if that will make things worse! She pees and has water. Li goes into the bathroom. He asks me to stand guard as he thinks it doesn't lock. A bank employee goes by and says it does lock if you shut it hard enough. He helps Li shut it and then Li locks the door. Li says, "Now try to get in!" The guy tries the door and can't get in. The guy and I laugh at the situation. After Li is done and we briefly chat with our friend Angie, we go to the park and play a bit. It is cold and Kana will only wear a skort and tshirt! I brought long pants and a long sleeved shirt and a jacket. She doesn't want them. So we only stay a little while and we are all cold and we go home.
Oh, when we first got to the park, I had to nurse Kanoa. I told Kana she could go on anything except the one thing she had trouble getting off of last time. I called Jim to vent. As I was talking to him, I said ...and I see Makana sitting on the top of the one thing I told her not to go on until I got there. She tried to come off it and Li ended up helping her down the last bit. Thanks Li!!! Later she told me how proud she was that she was able to get down off of that thing.
Went to the bank, paid taxes, went to the post office. I had a bag of misc little things to mail to two different people, two letters to drop off and needed to get two stamped envelopes. Simple, right? Bwaaa ha ha ha! I totally over-estimated what I could do with my baby in arms, my 4 yr old and my 8 yr old!
The lady at the desk was very helpful and kind. She boxed up one box and helped me find the cheapest mailer for the other things. She gave me two stamped envelopes and took the letters I wanted to drop off. But...all this took lots of time. There was lots going on. She looked up a zip code for me, she had a couple of questions to ask to figure out the proper postage, she had to ask for payment and then she forgot I already gave her my card and she just needed me to enter my pin number. That all seems like common stuff, right?
Well, as that is all happenning, so is this: Li is asking me questions about what we are using to mail stuff. I am answering the postal lady's questions and trying to write quickly to get it all done as baby is beginning to fuss in my arms. As I am trying to write, sometimes the baby pulls at my hair. My handwriting is less than stellar (like that matters at this point!). Kana is running about even though I asked her to stay by me. Didn't I ask her to stay by me? Maybe I didn't.don't recall for sure, but think I did. Well, I would hurry up and be done and get out of there! The nice lady gives us stickers (stuck in my pocket caus I needed my hands and felt overwhelmed and wanted to get done asap - will give them to the kids later). I fumble with my bag trying to organize everything (find my stamped letters to mail, make sure I have everything out of it I needed to mail, throw out the garbage). I have one mailer to stuff and address and still 2 envelopes to address. Kana hands me a finished sticky lollipop stick. I take it, then give it back and ask her to throw it in the trash behind her as I didn't want to leave my place in at the postal desk and I still have to address letters and a mailer. She doesn't do that. She places it up on the postal counter. I then move it aside and continue addressing, answering questions, answering Li's questions, etc. I then rid my bag of everything but garbage and then chuck Kana's lollipop stick in there. Li gives me his lollipop stick and I chuck it in the bag too. I ask Li to take the garbage bag and throw it out. He refuses, so I do it. Kana tells me she has to pee right now! I think about how I am almost done and think that maybe I could finish up quickly. I tell her I am hurrying and that I will get her to a bathroom as fast as I can as soon as we're done (as I truly thought we were almost done and I didn't want to come back and go through this again!). I asked Li to help stuff the mailer. He still is trying to ask me more questions. This is not a good time, wait until we're done! Can you help stuff this? Ahhh, he notices my letter going in with his videotapes. Oh, oh, he only wanted HIS stuff to be in the package. But Kana has to pee and the baby is getting upset! I say I am hurrying and I'll get her to the bathroom as fast as I can as soon as I am done. Li explains again that he only wanted HIS stuff in the package we are sending to Jene and that I should not have included my stuff in there too. The postal lady (trying to help) says that it will cost more if we send things separately and that if we open the package, it may rip. Li was even willing to pay. But due to Makana and baby, Li unhappily agrees to let it go. Oh and at one point when Li had been asking questions, I said that if he continued to talk to me I would scream...and I said this right in front of the whole post office! Ugh! Oh yeah, and then there was another point where Li said that Kana did something to him (can't recall, but he was mad and it seemed like they were beginning to fight) and so I told him to stay by me while I finish up. He moved away a bit. He then got my attention by telling me that this was really important (when the postal lady was trying to talk to me) and so I listened to him and he said that Makana hit him and kicked him when he went right there (he pointed). I said I was sorry she did that and to stay by me. He did stay by me. Perhaps that is when I had asked him to help with the mailer. Anyway, feeling like I should leave my postal office stuff and go and talk to Kana and tell her she can'ty do that to Li, etc, etc. But I didn't. I just wanted to be done and fast! And I thought that if Li stayed by me, she couldn't hurt him any more AND then I could finish and talk to her when we leave.
At some point toward the end I heard someone say that there were too many kids in here! What? Was that a joke or was it because my Kana was running about? I know I should have made her stay by me. Guess I didn't think it was such a big deal to let her roam in there. I truly thought she'd stay in the postal office, she just walks around it.
Also, there was one point when the other postal wkr said to Kana, "Stay where your Mommy can see you" in a kind and helpful way. I looked over toward where Kana was and said something (but don't recall what). People in line commented that they could see her. I knew she'd stay in the building and she did. But it is kind of humiliating when you feel so out of control and other people are making comments. And I felt inadequate as a parent not keeping her in line and quiet.
Kana said that she was just playing a game with Li when she kicked and hit him. Not a safe game to play!!! Not okay!!! I am feeling so frustrated with her!
Why don't my kids stand in line and stay next to me and be quiet?!!!! That IS what is expected from all patrons in the post office. I think I am going to have to do ALOT of explaining about what is expected in public places from now on. So perhaps this is not a failure, but a learning experience. Also, I could simply ask Jim to go. I do want my kids to learn how to act in public. However, perhaps we will give it some time before we revisit the post office. And I will remember to bring a stroller or leave the kids in the car with Katie (if possible) so I have two hands to write. Then the whole transaction will be quicker and easier on everyone. Even if I just had Makana it would have been easier! Oh well, there you go!
Oh man! So we go back to the bank to use the bathroom. We have to wait as someone is in the bathroom. Li drinks some water from the water dispenser. I tell Kana to wait before having some as she has to pee so bad I don't know if that will make things worse! She pees and has water. Li goes into the bathroom. He asks me to stand guard as he thinks it doesn't lock. A bank employee goes by and says it does lock if you shut it hard enough. He helps Li shut it and then Li locks the door. Li says, "Now try to get in!" The guy tries the door and can't get in. The guy and I laugh at the situation. After Li is done and we briefly chat with our friend Angie, we go to the park and play a bit. It is cold and Kana will only wear a skort and tshirt! I brought long pants and a long sleeved shirt and a jacket. She doesn't want them. So we only stay a little while and we are all cold and we go home.
Oh, when we first got to the park, I had to nurse Kanoa. I told Kana she could go on anything except the one thing she had trouble getting off of last time. I called Jim to vent. As I was talking to him, I said ...and I see Makana sitting on the top of the one thing I told her not to go on until I got there. She tried to come off it and Li ended up helping her down the last bit. Thanks Li!!! Later she told me how proud she was that she was able to get down off of that thing.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Friday 10-09-09 to Saturday 10-10-09
Here are some pictures from Friday night (10-10-09) and Saturday (10-11-09). Misc house shots and people shots. Kanoa in bath on Saturday morning. Kana made her own bed today. Picture of her two bears, Beary and Fluffy. Mom, Dad, the video is cute - Kanoa in the bath (scroll to bottom for video).
Daddy, Makana, Mommy (Kana was at first upset because she said the one that is sup to be her didn't look like her. But then she displayed it on the fridge, so she must like it now!)
Tom Jones, our neighbor, sent this postcard out when his dog died last winter. Read it. Slow, low and reliable.
Misc kitchen shots.
I made burgers.
Wolf made corn.
Kana made art.
Katie on her laptop.
Li on the computer.
Kanoa in the bath (scroll way down for the video of him in here taken Sat morning.)
Kana made her bed by herself. (And don't try to fix the wrinkles, just leave it and appreciate it and admire it!).
Kana with Beary and Fluffy
Kanoa and I on Saturday morning.
Here's a cute video of Kanoa in the bath enjoying splashing and reaching out for the running water. He LOVES baths and playing in the water so much!
Daddy, Makana, Mommy (Kana was at first upset because she said the one that is sup to be her didn't look like her. But then she displayed it on the fridge, so she must like it now!)
Tom Jones, our neighbor, sent this postcard out when his dog died last winter. Read it. Slow, low and reliable. 
Misc kitchen shots.
I made burgers.
Wolf made corn.
Kana made art.
Katie on her laptop.
Li on the computer.
Kanoa in the bath (scroll way down for the video of him in here taken Sat morning.)
Kana made her bed by herself. (And don't try to fix the wrinkles, just leave it and appreciate it and admire it!).
Kana with Beary and Fluffy
Kanoa and I on Saturday morning.Here's a cute video of Kanoa in the bath enjoying splashing and reaching out for the running water. He LOVES baths and playing in the water so much!
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