Polio At Six, Seventy Two Years In An Iron Lung.

You can't pretend vaccines are fake and disease does not exist.


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https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1238251518/iron-lung-polio-paul-alexander


Paul Alexander, forced into an iron lung by polio in 1952, dies at 78


Polio struck Paul Alexander in 1952, when he was just 6 years old. Within days, the disease robbed him of the use of his body. But he fought through the illness, using an iron lung for more than 70 years — and inspiring people with his determination to live a full life. He painted, wrote a book and worked for years as an attorney.


Alexander died on Monday at age 78, according to a notice by the Grove Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park in his hometown of Dallas, Texas.


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anybody Wrote:
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> — and inspiring people with his
> determination to live a full life. He painted,
> wrote a book and worked for years as an attorney.

Wow. Amazing. I feel distinctly underworked in comparison. No wonder Mr. Alexander inspired people.


> You can't pretend vaccines are fake and disease
> does not exist.

For anyone who says disease does not exist, well, they just have to take a look around. Or think back to the last time they had a sore throat or another ailment (and fortunately were able to overcome the responsible organism with effective measures).

I'm sure parents were full of gratitude when their kids could receive their polio vaccines in the '50s. Prior to that, the likeliest outcomes for a child who contracted polio were permanent paralysis of legs, life in an iron lung due to paralysis of breathing muscles, or death.

It's unfortunate that more people don't know the history of disease and the development of antidotes, including medicines and vaccines.

I don't really understand why such a multitude of people today think they know better than experts in science and medicine. It's creepy and scary. And dangerous if not life-threatening.

One of the most unfortunate results is that it's not only those who aren't vaxxed who may suffer negative consequences of that choice but also others with whom they come into contact who they can spread disease organisms to.

Mr. Alexander sure made the most of his life that he could in a very admirable way.

Nightingale wrote in part:

"I don't really understand why such a multitude of people today think they know better than experts in science and medicine. It's creepy and scary. And dangerous if not life-threatening."

Perhaps this story from my younger brother (who is also blind) can help to shed some light on this point. While it may seem unrelated, I think that you may see in the end (and I'll try to point it out) how it is related.

My younger brother had a sighted friend who worked overseeing security for an expensive hotel. One day, the hotel's manager came to him and said that the hotel's stockholders were demanding budget cuts and that to satisfy them he was going to lower the budget for security including laying off some of the people my brother's friend oversaw.

My brother's friend was understandably dumbfounded but he took a chance. He asked the hotel manager if there had been any security breaches at the hotel; had anybody's items been stolen; had anybody broken into the hotel over the last two years or so. When the manager said no, my brother's friend pointed out that these breaches and break-ins did not happen because the hotel was *spending money* on its security to make sure these things didn't happen, and he warned the manager that if the budget for the hotel's security was cut, the breeches and break-ins would start occurring again because there would be no security officers around to prevent them from occurring.

Fortunately, according to my brother, the hotel manager and his bosses wisely listened to my brother's friend and didn't cut the security budget that year (I don't know if they did in subsequent years).

The point of my story is that over time, people forget how things used to be and they tend to throw away all of the precautions they made to prevent certain things from occurring. Add to that the rise of new generations who never experienced how things were before, say the creation of vaccines, and you have a recipe for humans to reverse the progress they/we have made against certain diseases. Unfortunately, each generation likes to "reinvent the wheel" and sometimes that results in backslides in human progress, particularly in terms of keeping major diseases at bay and from spreading once again into human populations.

The whole system was trying to push her to use pressurized oxygen but she much preferred the iron lung. In the iron lung, she had normal breathing and no noise. She had two spares that she collected for parts.

I have a good friend whose sister got polio at the LaGoon swimming pool. She was in a wheelchair the rest of her life, but not in an iron lung. She married a man who was also disabled and they both became mayors of Providence, Utah. They had a full life, too. They owned a home that was set up for wheelchairs.

My friend and her mother helped take care of her and my friend was there at the very end.

I wonder how many polio victims are still alive.

I know one, he’s wheelchair bound. My Dad had a mild case before we were born. He was lucky and fully recovered. As soon as the vaccine was available we had it. I had the sugar cube version, the liquid drink and the shot. Well vaccinated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2024 10:19PM by sbg.

I remember seeing news clips/videos on Youtube about Mr. Alexander and thinking what an amazing person to have suffered so much from something and remain positive - making something with his life. Such a positive thing.

The polio Vaccine is amazing and amazingly effective, I am very thankful for it. From what I've been able to find out it was tested for a year on a large (over a million) sample of kids before being given approval for a large rollout. It was just simply proven over time to be effective, Does anyone know if there were mandatory "take the vaccine or lose your job" mandates back in the day of the Polio Vaccine rollout?

Did you ever go to school? Think about it.

Operation Warp Speed was not a slow and deliberate process implemented after an extended period of testing: hence "Warp Speed." Moreover there was a disaster with some six million doses incorrectly manufactured, resulting in injuries and a suspension of the inoculation campaigns.

The process was substantially more dangerous than the COVID vaccinations that had you lot up in arms. It's just that people in the 1950s and 1960s were still capable of basic rational thinking.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2024 04:54AM by Lot's Wife.

Something about "Lot's Wife" using the term "that had you lot up in arms" tickled my funny bone. Thanks for making me smile.

Vaccines are an amazing thing. I know 3 or 4 people whom I work with who have not had the Covid shot, and talking to them they said they had nothing against traditional Vaccines but that they do not believe the Covid shot to be a safe effective vaccine. Guess they just are not capable of basic rational thinking.

The first person to be vaccinated for Covid in my region (and perhaps the entire state) was a PhD student in immunology at the University of Maryland. His wife is a R.N. I was already convinced on the vaccine, knowing that the mRNA technology has been around for decades (it will be difficult for people to avoid it moving forward.) But knowing that someone very knowledgeable in immunology was on board was comforting.

Scooby Doo Wrote:
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> Guess they just are not
> capable of basic rational thinking.

Some things are so obvious they do not require restatement.

Did you go to a public school? There is a whole host of vaccines that you got as a child before they would even let you enroll. I know because I look at school records quite frequently -- it's a part of my job.

Health care workers who work in hospitals are also required to be vaccinated. When you or a loved one are in the hospital, the last thing that you want is for a nurse to carry disease to you.

The military also requires vaccines. They don't care about your opinion.

Summer, Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I did go to school, Yes I did have ALL the required vaccines. And I agree with that policy the way it was carried out. It's understandable why health care workers in hospitals are required to be vaccinated, and I agree with that as well. I guess the question should have been more along the line of how far the mandates to have a vaccine (polio) were then as opposed to Covid recently (up to a year or so ago).

Having never been in the military I'm not sure, but my understanding is that some rights are given while in the service.

That's the problem with conspiracy theories.

Remember the Y2K / black helicopters / one world government /massive concentration camps in the desert / MIBs kidnapping people in their sleep to take them away to said camps to microchip them or implant alien technology fantasy?

It sounds ridiculous now, but there were people who actually thought (and acted) as if all of it were real ( see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_(conspiracy_theory) )

No plan is perfect and people make mistakes -- but there simply is no credible motive for anti-vaccine hysteria. Notice I said hysteria, not caution.

Science is an open book for everyone to read, and there are a myriad of researchers. You'd have a plethora of people sounding the alarm instead of just a few cranks.

What would be the motive? That's another question the conspiracy theorists can't answer because there is no answer. Conspiracy theories are driven by fear, not reason. If there was some kind of vast global "conspiracy" for something, somebody would talk -- and not just one person. Same goes for UFOs, "one world government," fluoridation, or faux religion.

It's not so easy to keep secrets.

Here's a recent case.


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https://www.popsci.com/environment/sheep-hybrid-hunting/

Please do not spend nearly a decade working to secretly clone endangered sheep in a bid to create giant Frankensheep hybrids for wealthy people to hunt for sport. It is very illegal, and the US government will make an example out of you.

Case in point: Arthur “Jack” Schubarth. The 80-year-old owner of a 215-acre “alternative livestock” ranch in Montana who the Justice Department reports pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two felony wildlife crimes—conspiracy to violate, as well as “substantively violating” the Lacey Act, a law enacted in 1900 to combat illegal animal trafficking.

Located in Vaughn, Montana, Schubarth Ranch is what’s known as a shooting preserve or game ranch, where people pay exorbitant amounts to hunt captive, often exotic animals like mountain goats. Or, in this case, extremely large, never-before-seen hybrid supersheep derived from Central Asia’s Ovis ammon polii, or the Marco Polo argali.

Pulling it off apparently required serious scientific and international scheming. According to Justice Department officials, Schubarth secretly purchased “parts” of Marco Polo argali sheep from Kyrgyzstan in 2013, then arranged transportation of the biological samples to the US. Once here, Schubarth then tasked a lab to create embryo clones from the Marco Polo argali genetic material. These embryos were then implanted in ewes of a different sheep species on his farm, which eventually produced a pure male Marco Polo argali Schubarth crowned the “Montana Mountain King,” aka MMK.

From there, “other unnamed co-conspirators” alongside Schubarth artificially inseminated other ewes (also apparently of sheep species illegal in Montana) using MMK semen. All the while, the sheep scandal grew to include forged vet inspection certificates claiming the legality of their livestock, as well as even the sale of MMK’s semen to breeders in other states. According to court documents, sheep containing 25-percent Montana Mountain King genetics fetched as much as $15,000 per head. A son of MMK, dubbed Montana Black Magic, helped produce sheep worth around $10,000 each.

The genetic thievery wasn’t limited to Marco Polo argali, either. Court filings also show Schubarth pursued similar endeavors to amass genetic material harvested from Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, which he then also sold through interstate deals.” All of this, perhaps unsurprisingly, also violated state laws prohibiting the sale of game animal parts and the use of game animals on alternative livestock ranches.


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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2024 09:36AM by anybody.

Scooby Doo Wrote:
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> Does anyone know if there were
> mandatory "take the vaccine or lose your job"
> mandates back in the day of the Polio Vaccine
> rollout?

There were mandates eventually in some venues (see below). I don't think they needed mandates for children to be immunized as parents were eager to protect their kids from the dread disease.


WHO on the history of polio vaccine:

https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/history-of-polio-vaccination

"Polio is a highly infectious disease, mostly affecting young children, that attacks the nervous system and can lead to spinal and respiratory paralysis, and in some cases death."


Excerpt re Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the first polio vaccine:

“Salk was committed to equitable access to his vaccine, and understood that elimination efforts would not work without universal low- or no-cost vaccination.

“Six pharmaceutical companies were licensed to produce IPV, and Salk did not profit from sharing the formulation or production processes.

“In a 1955 interview, when asked who owned the patent for IPV, he replied: “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”


Selfless (received no $$ for his vax). And poetic: “Could you patent the sun?”


Canadian Museum of History:

https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/vaccine-mandates/

“The development of an array of vaccines against diseases such as diphtheria, polio, mumps and measles significantly lowered death rates associated with these diseases. Vaccination education and awareness campaigns by public health agencies - combined with mandatory vaccination policies for trade schools, immigration and other arenas - were essential to ensuring high vaccination rates.”

-----

So, yes, there were mandates in some schools, workplaces, medical settings and with immigration. But from what I've read, people were so thankful that a vaccine against polio was finally available that compliance was widespread, especially re their children, who were the most vulnerable to the disease.


From the WHO article:

"Polio has existed since prehistoric times – ancient Egyptian images show children walking with canes, with withered limbs characteristic of the disease."


Parents had the history of polio to demonstrate the need for prevention. That is certainly one factor in raising vaccine compliance levels. With new viruses, as we've recently experienced, people question the need for vaccination and are not compliant with mandates or recommendations from public health professionals. Unfortunately that makes it difficult to stop a virus in its tracks, giving it the opportunity to become widespread and also to mutate and that presents an even greater challenge to beat it down.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2024 02:28PM by Nightingale.

As a teen in the 50s we were very aware of polio and the various scares over using public swimming pools and such. I do not recall any of the nonsense that surrounded the Covid vaccine. There was relief a vaccine was available and we took advantage of it.

Kentish Wrote:
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> There
> was relief a vaccine was available and we took
> advantage of it.

Makes sense to me.

(Nice to see you Kentish).

I just read that Mr. Alexander died of COVID!

Apparently, he was initially hospitalized, diagnosed with COVID and then at some point discharged.

Cause of death is apparently listed as COVID.

72 years he survived after polio, in itself a virulent disease in the '50s when he contracted it as a child.

He couldn't go out and about at all as he could only take 2 to 3 minute trips outside his iron lung. So somebody must have brought the virus to him.

What a sad irony, to be overwhelmed twice with a virulent virus. The first time there was no vaccine. The second time there was but maybe he didn't receive it due to delicate health (?) or maybe thought he didn't need it as he didn't go out.

What a challenging set of circumstances he faced in his life. A life he made the most accomplished and admirable that he could in the face of such obstacles. As a young man he apparently could go out using a special wheelchair, when he could stay outside the iron lung for longer periods of time. That is how he was able to attend and graduate from law school, in person.

He also had the extreme challenge of having to find the funding to pay for his medical treatment. I often overlook that major issue for folks needing medical care in the USA as here in Canada we don't have to pay out of pocket for acute care physicians or hospitals so we just never have to even think about it.

Fortunately, it seems that he had family and friends and admirers who helped him out in many ways. And it sounds as though he lived the best possible life he could despite his unfortunate circumstances. A pretty darn good example for others.

The irony though of succumbing to a respiratory virus after 72 years of admirably overcoming the first one, both its initial effects and the lifelong sequelae from it.


https://time.com/6931790/paul-alexander-polio-iron-lung-death/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2024 12:37AM by Nightingale.

That's a pity. I imagine with his ongoing lung issues that Covid proved overwhelming, as it did for many others with serious health issues.