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polio: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As Heine-Medin disease • infantile paralysis • poliomyelitis • acute anterior poliomyelitis

Photos and Videos

Polio vaccine
Polio testing
Polio vaccine
Jonas Salk, wearing a white lab coat, stands in a laboratory smiling and holding up a bottle of red liquid, with more bottles on the counter beside him.
A child wearing a brace on a leg that has been affected by polio.
Three line graphs display the dramatic decline in reported cases of diphtheria, polio, and measles in the United States from 1920 to 2019, each showing a sharp drop after the introduction of their respective vaccines. Diphtheria cases fell after 1921, polio after 1955, and measles after 1963, illustrating the impact of mass vaccination programs. An inset highlights an increase in measles cases after 2010.
Infographic showing estimated lives saved by childhood vaccinations worldwide from 1974 to 2024, with syringe-shaped bars for each disease. Measles tops the list at 93.71 million lives saved, followed by tetanus, whooping cough, and others, for a total of 153.84 million lives saved.
How did the polio vaccine change the world?
Children with polio and the administration of polio vaccine
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Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

Kenny, Elizabeth; Sister Kenny
Elizabeth Kenny
Australian nurse
default image
Albert Bruce Sabin
American physician and microbiologist
Polio vaccine
Jonas Salk
American physician and medical researcher

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