The resurgence of polio in Pakistan, Cameroon and Syria resurrects a spectre that haunted families in the first half of the 20th century. Polio crippled tens of thousands of Canadians, most of them children, until the first vaccine was introduced in 1955.
The World Health Organization has declared the spread of polio an international public health emergency. That鈥檚 not a cause for panic on Vancouver Island, but neither is there room for complacency. It鈥檚 a reminder of the necessity of immunization, here and abroad.
Major outbreaks of poliomyelitis, or infantile paralysis, were unknown until the 20th century. Ironically, modern hygiene was to blame. Before indoor plumbing and other sanitation measures, children were exposed to the virus at an early age, but exhibited mild symptoms and then developed lifetime immunity. As sanitation improved, serious outbreaks of polio increased.
In 90 per cent of the cases, symptoms were mild. But when the virus entered the nervous system, it caused paralysis and twisted limbs. While this happened in fewer than two per cent of cases, the prospect was frightening.
鈥淎 diagnosis of infantile paralysis in a young child was truly a dreadful thing,鈥� wrote Alison Hogan in Polio and Public Health in British Columbia, 1927-1955, an article in The Corvette, the undergraduate journal of history at the University of Victoria in 2013.
Little could be done, other than disinfection of surroundings, quarantine and monitoring the fever, hoping the disease would run its course without harm.
鈥淭he alternative was simply too awful to contemplate: paralysis, permanent disability or death, not to mention the extreme risk of transmission of the disease to others in the house,鈥� wrote Hogan. 鈥淔or these reasons, there was no disease that frightened parents 鈥� in the early decades of the 20th century quite so much as infantile paralysis.鈥�
During outbreaks 鈥� there were four major ones in sa国际传媒 during the first half of the century 鈥� children were warned to stay away from swimming pools, theatres and other public places where the disease might be spread.
During sa国际传媒鈥檚 1927 epidemic, wrote Hogan, 鈥渁 doctor in Vernon went so far as to consider banning students from polio-prone regions from attending the local school, and sent a telegram to Victoria to request data:
鈥� 鈥楰indly inform me what districts in Western sa国际传媒 infected with infantile paralysis. Children from such districts cannot attend school here.鈥� 鈥�
But Dr. Henry Esson Young, sa国际传媒鈥檚 provincial health officer, didn鈥檛 believe in closing schools, reasoning that children circulating in the community increased the risk of spreading the disease.
Three more polio epidemics struck sa国际传媒 鈥� in 1947, 1952 and 1953 鈥� increasing in severity, until Vancouver General and the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria were operating at capacity.
With the advent of the Salk vaccine in 1955 and the Sabine oral vaccine in the early 1960s, the disease abated. By 1994, sa国际传媒 was declared polio-free.
International efforts, including those supported by Rotary International and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, resulted in the near-eradication of polio, except in three or four countries. Globally, 350,000 cases were reported in 1988. In 2012, there were 223.
But conflicts have hindered immunization efforts 鈥� 417 cases were recorded in 2013. WHO officials say if the disease is not eradicated, 200,000 new cases could result each year within 10 years.
While the outbreaks in Asia, Africa and the Middle East pose low risk to British Columbians, unimmunized travellers to those regions are at risk, and global travel could easily spread the disease.
We can鈥檛 do much about the fighting in Syria, but we can ensure children here are immunized, and we can support efforts to eradicate polio around the world.
