Jonas Salk developed the first successful polio vaccine and gets most of the credit for defeating the disease. But he was one of dozens of teams around the US working on the problem in the 1950s. Salk's vaccine contained polio virus that had been inactivated (killed) and was introduced by injection. Not long afterward, Albert Sabin came up with an oral vaccine that used live but weakened polio virus that worked even better. So how do you get the vaccine to millions of Americans in a hurry? Putting the oral vaccine in a sugar cube and giving them to everyone was a huge undertaking, but it did the job.
My school lined up all the students and took us to the auditorium two or three times a year to be vaccinated for something or other. We always hoped it would be the sugar cube, of course. Three sugar cubes laced with polio vaccine over time would give you lifetime immunity, and that meant something when we all knew older students who limped or had one shorter leg from polio. We didn't know the ones who didn't make it.
Phil Edwards take us through the process of developing the vaccine, and the massive logistical problems of getting it distributed to enough people to defeat the disease. There is a 110-second skippable ad at 3:55. (via Laughing Squid)
Sunday, September 14, 2025
When Sugar Cubes Saved Lives
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Another interesting historical fact: the Sabin vaccine not only immunized you from polio - it also created antibodies in the gut, where the virus would live.
So the shots would make you immune, but you could still carry the virus, and hence, transmit polio. The sugar cubes caused your body to kill the virus in the gut, breaking the chain of transmission, as well as protecting the patient.
Post a Comment