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Get the most interesting and important stories from the 黑料吃瓜网 of 黑料吃瓜网.On Feb. 23, 1954, children at Arsenal Elementary School in 黑料吃瓜网 received the first shots of a vaccine against a deadly virus. It would take 25 years and a nationwide effort for polio to be eradicated in the U.S., but a team lead by the 黑料吃瓜网 of 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 Jonas Salk took the bold first steps.
As the world deals with the ongoing effects of another deadly virus, Pitt remains a leader in vaccine research. You鈥檒l see some familiar themes in the four stories below, not to mention a through line between Pitt鈥檚 groundbreaking research 68 years ago and the work happening today.
First-person accounts from polio pioneers
In a 2005 Pitt Med magazine story, Senior Editor Elaine Vitone (PDF) when the polio vaccine first became available. The piece weaves together first-person accounts from a nurse and several schoolchildren who recount anxiety as the 鈥減olio pioneers鈥 received their doses 鈥 and their celebration when the vaccine was successful. You can also inspired by the story.
A reporter鈥檚 story of vaccine success
John Troan was a young reporter for the now-shuttered 黑料吃瓜网 Press when he caught wind that Salk鈥檚 team was about to test the polio vaccine in humans. A 2002 Pitt Med magazine article follows from Jonas Salk inoculating himself and his family to covering the success of a trial involving almost 2 million children.
A Q&A with Jonas Salk鈥檚 son
Peter Salk, Jonas Salk鈥檚 son, is a Pitt professor of infectious diseases and microbiology and an outspoken proponent of vaccination. In this Q&A from April 2021, Salk answers questions about life before the polio vaccine, trust and distrust of vaccines, and what we can learn today from the 1954 drive to protect children from the deadly virus.
From polio to COVID-19
A free half-hour documentary called 鈥溾 takes a look at work happening in Pitt鈥檚 Center for Vaccine Research, led by Paul Duprex, the Jonas Salk Chair for Vaccine Research. Directed by Senior Lecturer of Film & Media Studies Carl Kurlander, the documentary draws parallels between the battles against polio and COVID-19 and describes the process of creating vaccines from start to finish 鈥 emphasizing that then, as now, it鈥檚 a team effort.听
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鈥 Patrick Monahan