Poliomyelitis

How the Polio Epidemic of 1950 Gave Wytheville, Virginia, a 'Summer Without Children' - Mental Floss How the Polio Epidemic of 1950 Gave Wytheville, Virginia, a 'Summer Without Children' - Mental Floss Posted: 09 Dec 2020 12:00 AM PST In the summer of 1950, the southwest Virginia community of Wytheville became a ghost town. Movie theaters, public schools, and churches shut their doors. Signs were placed along roads warning travelers to avoid stopping or risk infection. A polio epidemic was sweeping through. The infection, formally named poliomyelitis because it attacks the protective sheaths (or myelin) surrounding nerve fibers, is caused by the poliovirus. It is most commonly transmitted through water or food contaminated with human waste, especially in public areas like swimming pools and amusement parks, and from person to person through contact with contaminated objects or respiratory droplets. Symptom...

Potential ALS Marker Found in Polio-related Study of Brain Motor Network - ALS News Today Potential ALS Marker Found in Polio-related Study of Brain Motor Network - ALS News Today Posted: 01 Dec 2020 12:00 AM PST New research into the motor networks of polio survivors shows the brain may "rewire" itself in neurological diseases, leading to a reorganization that also may serve as a potential biomarker of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other motor neuron disorders, a study reports.  Published in the journal Clinical Neurophysiology , the study, by researchers at Trinity College Dublin , is titled " Altered Supraspinal Motor Networks in Survivors of Poliomyelitis: A Cortico-Muscular Coherence Study . " "This study is especially interesting because it shows that advanced methods in neurophysiology and neural signal analysis can help to unravel new aspects of how different diseases disrupt our ...

How do COVID-19 vaccines compare with other existing vaccines? - Medical News Today How do COVID-19 vaccines compare with other existing vaccines? - Medical News Today Posted: 14 Dec 2020 04:53 AM PST The novelty of the COVID-19 vaccines may seem daunting for some, and it is natural for questions to arise on their effectiveness. In this feature, we examine the difference between effectiveness and efficacy, compare the COVID-19 frontrunner vaccines to other vaccines, such as the flu shot, and compare their safety considerations. As Pfizer/BioNTech roll out their COVID-19 vaccine throughout the United Kingdom and the United States, the world wonders how effective it will be. Looking at the three leading vaccines that we have previously reported on , Pfizer/BioNTech boasts 95% efficacy, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine candidate has an average of 70% efficacy, while the Moderna vaccine candidate reportedly has 94.1% efficacy. But what...

Coronavirus vaccine's arrival recalls the 1950s battle to stop polio - Stars and Stripes Coronavirus vaccine's arrival recalls the 1950s battle to stop polio - Stars and Stripes Posted: 16 Dec 2020 08:48 AM PST Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reports here . Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here . Please support our journalism with a subscription . TAMPA, Fla. (Tribune News Service) — History was made in Tampa Bay Monday as the first dose of coronavirus vaccine was given locally to a nurse at Tampa General Hospital. It was a long-awaited moment of hope for many, even those whose shots are months away. As we wait we can learn from Tampa Bay's vaccine past, starting with the polio vaccine. These lifesaving vaccinations emerged in the 1950s as researchers crusaded to stop a virus that attacked the nervous system. While the populations m...

New immunotherapy piggybacks off polio vaccine to treat cancer - The Science Board New immunotherapy piggybacks off polio vaccine to treat cancer - The Science Board Posted: 17 Dec 2020 11:05 AM PST By Samantha Black, PhD, The Science Advisory Board editor in chief December 17, 2020 -- As if we needed another reason to get vaccinated, researchers have developed a technology that leverages the polio vaccine to help treat cancer for those who develop the disease later in life. The technology, conceived at Duke University and developed by Istari Oncology, uses antigens produced by the polio vaccine to trigger the immune system to eat away at targeted cancer cells. Matt Stober, president and CEO of Istari Oncology. Istari is a company that was spun out of Duke University Tisch Brain Tumor Center and is focused on developing novel immunotherapies for solid tumors, according to Matthew Stober, president and CEO of Istari and Dr. Garrett N...

When a different disease was in the headlines; how KMTV covered the Polio vaccine - KMTV - 3 News Now When a different disease was in the headlines; how KMTV covered the Polio vaccine - KMTV - 3 News Now Posted: 14 Dec 2020 04:49 PM PST OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Humanity has been down this road before. Not so long ago, polio was a terrifying virus with no available vaccine. Parents lived in fear of a disease that could permanently disable or even kill their children. President Franklin Roosevelt was diagnosed with the paralytic disease as a young adult and founded the charity, March of Dimes, in response to the poliomyelitis virus. Then, in the 1950s, Dr. Jonas Salk developed an effective polio vaccine that could be administered with in an injection. Thanks to Bill Kelly at NET , we've discovered some extraordinary footage of KMTV and its coverage of a mass polio vaccination effort in 1962. By that time, Dr. Albert Sabin had developed a v...