This piece was contributed by Jan Nichols, a polio survivor, advocate, and author of the book Twin Voices: A Memoir of Polio, the Forgotten Killer.
On Oct. 24, the world marks annual World Polio Day, a day that celebrates the progress we have made toward a polio-free globe while reminding us that the disease is still not eradicated. This day also holds special significance for my family…
1953 had yielded an idyllic summer and early fall for the Flood twins, Frankie and me, Janice. As first graders, we were anxiously awaiting an opportunity to celebrate Halloween with our neighborhood friends; our costumes had been chosen and anticipation was mounting.
Opting on the side of caution, my parents had decided to keep Frankie home from school for a few days during Halloween week because of what had appeared to be a minor head cold – he had to be ready for Trick or Treat night! But, on the day before Halloween, our family’s sense of safety and security was shattered as Frankie was suddenly rushed to City Hospital for Communicable Diseases in Syracuse, N.Y. He was immediately placed in an iron lung because of his inability to breathe or swallow on his own and he was given a spinal tap to confirm a diagnosis. By Halloween morning, the diagnosis was clear: Frankie had polio.
Since the medical community was aware that if one child in a family was infected, all children were most likely infected, I was brought to the hospital to receive massive doses of gamma globulin, a blood component that could provide a temporary immune response and sometimes lessen cases in individuals already infected – a medical decision that may have well saved my life.
Sadly, 61 hours after admission to the hospital, Frankie died. On the night Frankie was buried, I was admitted to the same hospital with a diagnosis of paralytic polio and later on that week my mother suffered a miscarriage.
Now, what happened to our family was certainly tragic, but it was not an unusual story. Polio’s horror continued to strike children and young adults all over the world until the advent of the polio vaccine began to erode the global case count. The United States was declared polio-free of the wild-virus in 1979, with developed countries around the world following suit over the next few decades. Yet, polio is still not eradicated though its cases have been decreased by over 99%.
Eradication is in sight, yet as the saying goes, “It’s not over until it’s over.” Polio is a master at seeking out the unvaccinated and therefore unprotected among us. As our family well knows, it is a disease that can render a child or young adult dead or paralyzed in a matter of hours or days.
I have missed my twin every day of my life since 1953 – I live for the day that no one has to experience such loss. To that end, please join with advocates like Global Citizens and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to elicit the financial support of countries around the globe. And, please, vaccinate your children. Polio has no cure, only prevention through vaccination.
We can make polio a disease of the past!