A Brief History
On October 28, 1956, Elvis Aron Presley (yes, only one “a” in Aron) made medical history by being inoculated with a Polio vaccine shot on national television, demonstrating to a dubious country that getting such a vaccine was safe.
Digging Deeper
This gesture by the most famous Rock and Roller of all time was instrumental in raising the number of American children inoculated against Polio from .6% to a whopping 80+% in only 6 months. The Polio family of disease had been devastating American (and world wide) children, including 4 term US President Franklin Roosevelt. Researchers had been working tirelessly on finding a viable vaccine for many years. During the 1950’s, the work of notable immunologists Albert Sabin (Polish-Jewish), Hilary Koprowski (Polish-Jewish) and Jonas Salk (American-Jewish) culminated in effective vaccines against the dreaded disease. No longer would rows of “iron lungs” be filled with hapless victims. In 1953, there were 35,000 new cases of Polio reported in the US, and only 5600 in 1957. By 1961 there were a mere 161 new American cases, an enormous victory for medicine.
Polio was eliminated virtually in its entirety in the Americas by 1994, and has also been eradicated from Europe, China, Australia and many other countries, but resistance to taking vaccines in underdeveloped countries of Africa and Asia (it seems people there are distrustful of Western doctors, especially Americans) has left the door open for unfortunate kids to contract the horrible disease. The Middle East, torn by war, has seen a new epidemic that has spread from Syria to other countries. The WHO and other health organizations are doing their best to inoculate as many people across the world as possible in hopes of eradicating Polio the way Smallpox was eradicated. Sadly, in Muslim countries especially resistance to the vaccine continues, and Western doctors and their staff have even been murdered while trying to save lives.
Apart from great music and snappy dancing (and mediocre acting), it turns out Elvis the Pelvis contributed much more to American Society than just his art.
Like I told my parents all along, Rock and Roll is GOOD for the country!
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What is your favorite song by Elvis?
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Polio Vaccine (Trading Card) 2007 Press Pass Elvis Is – [Base] #47.
