confronting the spectre of polio
Describes the disease of polio and its treatment, the scientific endeavour that led to the discovery of the poliovirus, and the studies in virology and immunology that culminated in the production of a polio vaccine. It also highlights the experiences of patients and the voices of survivors, revealing how ethnicity, class, age, and gender all mediated individual's reactions to the disease, which included fear, rejection, denial and anger. There is still no cure for polio. The treatment remains the same as it was forty plus years ago. The only way to prevent future epidemics is by vaccinating the population. If the poliovirus cannot find an unvaccinated individual to infect, it will die out. As long as there is a single case of polio, all unvaccinated children throughout the world are at risk.
