None of these security measures prevented the spread of polio.
The biggest outbreak occurred during the 1940-50’s. An estimated 11,000 Canadians were left paralysed from polio during this time. The disease reached an all-time high in 1953 with approximately 9,000 cases and 500 deaths.
Eventually, effective measures for the treatment of polio did emerge. In 1930, an"iron lung" was brought to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, from Boston. The large metal cylinder, a predecessor to the modern day hospital ventilator, helped regulate the breathing of people whose respiratory muscles had been attacked by the poliovirus. Following a severe outbreak in 1937, the government of Ontario paid to quickly assemble 27 iron lungs in order to keep patients alive.
Modern rehabilitation owes much to treatment regimens for polio that were introduced by Sister Elizabeth Kenny, in the 1940’s. A nurse by profession, Kenny advocated for early activity and exercise for polio patients. Up until that point, treatment plans actually involved immobilizing paralyzed limbs with splints and casts. This approach resulted in the muscles becoming weak and stiff. Kenny’s approach had the opposite effect and eventually became the gold standard of rehabilitation therapy.
In 1953, an inactivated poliovirus vaccine was developed by Dr. Jonas Salk. The Salk vaccine became available for use in 1955. Another, oral, polio vaccine, developed by Albert Sabin using an attenuated virus (live but weakened), came into use in 1961. Both vaccines were largely funded by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now known as the March of Dimes) - a charity founded by then President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt who himself had become paralyzed from polio.
Waves of mass immunization globally have reduced the number of polio cases to the brink of eradication. At the end of 2019, there were 94 cases of polio reported worldwide. Today, Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Canada has been polio-free since 1994.
- Claire Baglole