Today we never think about polio. Thanks to vaccinations we do not have to think about it. But when I was a young child people needed to think of it. We didn’t have those vaccinations yet. They began in 1955. My mom would tell me not to play in puddles because she was afraid I would get polio. I don’t know if you could get polio playing in puddles but it reflects the fear my mother and others had about polio. You could see pictures of people, especially children, in iron lungs. How frightening it was to think if you contracted polio you might have to spend your life trapped in one of those horrendous contraptions. When I was older, I learned why my mother was so afraid. Her sister Connie had polio as a child. Fortunately, Connie had spent the summer swimming in the creek at the back of their property and her muscles were well toned. The doctor said that was why her leg was only minimally affected. It would be wonderful if polio could be eradicated like smallpox but many people in third world countries do not get vaccinated. Now we are experiencing a decline in many types of vaccinations here in the United States. I hope that once again mothers will not have to tell their children not to play in puddles.
#Polio,
#Vacinations, #Connie Wiedrich
