Conquering Polio | There Is No Patent
1/28/202636 min
In the early 1950s, Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin were in a race to develop a vaccine against polio. While Salk’s killed-virus vaccine was the first to be distributed, Sabin continued working to perfect his own approach. In the end, Sabin’s oral polio vaccine—made from a weakened live virus—proved easier to administer and was ultimately distributed far more widely, though his name never achieved the same recognition. In this episode, Lindsay is joined by epidemiologist and oral historian Karen Torghele. Her book Albert Sabin: The Life of a Polio Vaccine Pioneer is due to be publishe...
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLindsay Graham· Host0:00
[upbeat music] From Wonderie, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American History Tellers: Our History, Your Story. [upbeat music] In the first half of the twentieth century, terrified parents across America braced for the arrival of summer, the start of polio season. At the time, the illness was poorly understood, and the nation was desperate to find a way to protect against the so-called infantile paralysis. While most people who became ill recovered, photographs of children in leg braces, using crutches, or confined to iron lungs sent waves of fear through communities across the country. But in the early nineteen fifties, two scientists came to define the race to develop a vaccine against polio, Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin. And if you ask people today who developed the polio vaccine, most will say Jonas Salk. But Sabin created a vaccine, too, one that proved crucial, though his name never earned the same recognition. My guest today is working to change that. Karen Torgayle is an epidemiologist and oral historian. Her book, Albert Sabin: The Life of a Polio Vaccine Pioneer, is due to be published by Yale University Press in June