Dr. Jonas Salk
1914-1995
Inventor of the Polio Vaccination
Report by: C.C. 8th grade student
Jonas Salk was born in New York in the year 1914. His parents were Jewish-American immigrants. His parents lacked formal education and wanted the best for Salk and his siblings. He ended up attending the City College of New York City. He intended to study law but was so intrigued by medical science that it ended up being his major in college. There he pondered whether the virus could be deprived of its ability to affect others which ended up being the basis of his work. In 1947, he accepted an appointment to the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. He knew that this was his opportunity to make the vaccine. During the next eight years he devoted his life to the polio vaccine.
To truly discover why Salk put all his effort into making this vaccine, let us first figure out what polio is. Polio (infantile paralysis) is a "disorder caused by a viral infection that affects the whole body, muscles, and nerves." If not treated quickly it could cause permanent damage or even in the most severe cases, death. This virus is transmitted from person to person by fluids that come out of the mouth or nose. Once it is transferred it multiplies in the throat and intestinal tract and then spreads to the blood. There is still no actual cure for this crippling virus but my inventor, who was also a scientist, spent his whole life dedicated to protect those who had not received polio.
During the World War II (1941-1945) this epidemic had already started to kill many innocent people. Jonas Salk knew that he could stop the virus from the source. The vaccination, like others, killed the virus with chemicals so it can no longer spread throughout the body and to other people. It also causes the person to produce antibodies which will be very effective in defending itself against the living virus. This vaccine increases your immunity to polio by giving you the virus itself.
In order for this polio vaccination to be made, polio had to be discovered. This vaccination enabled people to be protected from this crippling virus. It also enabled them to get protected quickly and without much hassle.
On April 12, 1955 the news was made public: There was a successful polio vaccine. But, to everyone's surprise he refused to patent his invention and had no desire to profit from its uses.
Jonas Salk was a great and humble man. During the last few years of his life he tried to find the cure of AIDS. But, his several attempts were unsuccessful. He died on June 23, 1995 at the age of 80.
Asimov, Issac. Breakthroughs in Science. Boston, MA.: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1959.
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"Poliomyelitis" Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. CD-Rom. Redmond: Microsoft 1993-1997.
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