BIOS601 Resources: Applications: 1954 Trial of Polio Vaccine

Short Article for high school mathematics students

• The Biggest Public Experiment Ever: The 1954 Field Trial of the Salk Poliomyelitis Vaccine

Press Release, April 12, 1955

POLIO VACCINE EVALUATION RESULTS -- FOR RELEASE AT 10:20 E.S.T.

Newspapers

• New York Times April 13 1955
   
• Others
   
• VACCINE FREE IN ONTARIO: Province to Pay for Shots for All Up to 20 Years
   
• The news From Ann Arbpr (NY Herald Tribune)

Final Report of 1954 Salk Polio Trial

• Front Matter
   
• Introduction
   
• Summary and Conclusions
   
• Organization of the Trial
   
• Conduct of the Field Trial
   
• Record Processing
   
• Diagnostic Criteria
   
• Case Reporting
   
• Potency and Stability
   
• Incidence
   
• Statistical Methods
   

VIDEOS 

• Movie:The Last Mile, 16.01 min
  .
• Portions of The Last Mile
  ...... Intro (1.30)
  ...... Polio Cases (5 min.)
  ...... Roosevelt -> Trial (4 min.)
  ...... Results (2.30 min.)
  
  
• Good, Bad and Ugly: The History of Polio Vaccines
    (illustrated 49 min. lecture by Professor Gareth Williams)
  
  
• (21 min., edited down from full BBC video)
  
  
• Full version of (BBC) The Polio Story - The Vaccine That Changed the World (1h. 22min.)
  [This video is sometimes available, and sometimes removed at the requst of the BBC]
  
  
• The vaccine that saved millions
  Jonas Salk's son, Dr Peter Salk, spoke [4 minutes] to BBC's Witness History about his father's extraordinary achievement.
  
  
• Salk Vaccine Announcement (U Michigan, 20.36 min.)
  
  • -- Until Minute 11. Jonas Salk gives the background.
    
    
  • -- From minute 11.55 to 14.30: Dr Francis answers question from press on statistical reliability of results. He repeats the findings and explains the range of effectiveness -- depending in which study design, and which virus type (type 1, 2 or 3). He cites a p-value and gives his translation of what the p-value is.
    
    
  • -- Just these 4 minutes from press conference [Play in VLC]
    
    
  • -- From 14.30 onwards, Salk emphasizes that the vaccine used in 1954 was merely experimental, and that the newer version, properly used, with 2-doses + a boost at 7 months, would give much better results, and longer term protection.
• Salk Vaccine Announcement, U Michigan, 1955 [Longer version, 30 min, with longer portion of Thomas Francis' presentation]
  
      -- Thomas Francis speaks from minute 5.50 to minute 13.20 and from minute 23.50 to 25.15
  
  
• The Polio Crusade [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]   Youtube
  
  
• 2017 Convocation address by former McGill Principal   [starts at 45.30, polio portion at 49:40]
  
  

REAL_WORLD (POST-TRIAL) SAFETY ISSUES 

• Covid-19 vaccine safety and the public trust: lessons from Paul Meier and polio
  
  
• Meier's (1957) Science article "Safety Testing of Poliomyelitis Vaccine"
  
  

CANADA 

• Conquering the Crippler
  
  

TODAY 

• Two Strains of Polio Are Gone, but the End of the Disease Is Still Far Off
  
  
• More Polio Cases Now Caused by Vaccine Than by Wild Virus