The polio epidemic in Sonoma County and beyond

Many Sonoma County residents never envisioned that in 2020, a pandemic disease could lead to rising death tolls and major disruptions in daily life. But for baby boomers and members of the “silent generation,” the fight to slow the spread of COVID-19 recalls days spent locked away at home while the polio virus paralyzed the nation.

Polio crippled approximately 21,000 Americans each year at its peak during the late 1940s and early 1950s, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The disease attacked the nervous system and was particularly virulent for young people, leaving many paralyzed or unable to breathe without the assistance of the Drinker respirator, or “iron lung.”

By the mid-1950s, researchers were getting closer to a vaccine. In October 1952, Dr. Hilary Koprowski administered a live-virus version of the polio vaccine in the form of a chocolate milkshake to 61 boys and girls at Sonoma State Hospital in Eldridge with no ill effects.

On April 12, 1955, Dr. Jonas Salk made a breakthrough in a dead-virus version of the vaccine, which could be administered through injection.

Both the dead-virus shot and a version of Koprowski’s live-virus oral vaccine, perfected by Dr. Albert Sabin, have been administered throughout the years to eradicate the virus. Since 1979, no cases of polio have originated in the U.S., but overseas travelers have sporadically brought cases back into the country.

Janet Balicki Weber