Exercise 1: Prospectus Brainstorming
How did political and socioeconomic effects of the American polio epidemic of 1916 and beyond shift the public’s attitude towards vaccinations?
Connecting the epidemic to society today, there has been a polarizing attitude towards vaccinations since the rise of COVID, which was not as polarizing during the polio epidemic. What situations and policies historically resulted in this difference? Public attitudes towards vaccinations can be influenced by social disruption, policies, health, and a multitude of other factors that give layers to reasonings and motivations behind these decisions.
Rough Structure:
Keywords:
polio epidemic, poliomyelitis, epidemic, vaccination, vaccine, After-care Committee, SCAA
Sources and Evidence collected so far (direct quotes in orange):
Meyers, K., Thomasson, M.A. Can pandemics affect educational attainment? Evidence from the polio epidemic of 1916. Cliometrica 15, 231–265 (2021). https://doi-org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/10.1007/s11698-020-00212-3
Laurel Iverson Hitchcock & Paul H. Stuart (2017) Pioneering Health Care for Children with Disabilities: Untold Legacy of the 1916 Polio Epidemic in the United States, Journal of Community Practice, 25:1, 90-111, DOI: 10.1080/10705422.2016.1269249
Yeracaris, Constantine A. “The Acceptance of Polio Vaccine: An Hypothesis.” The American Catholic Sociological Review, vol. 22, no. 4, 1961, pp. 299–305. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3708037. Accessed 21 Oct. 2022.
Connecting the epidemic to society today, there has been a polarizing attitude towards vaccinations since the rise of COVID, which was not as polarizing during the polio epidemic. What situations and policies historically resulted in this difference? Public attitudes towards vaccinations can be influenced by social disruption, policies, health, and a multitude of other factors that give layers to reasonings and motivations behind these decisions.
Rough Structure:
- Introduction to poliomyelitis virus and origins in the US. background of how the virus spreads and infects
- 1912 outbreak. Policies and effects
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Policies and effects
- Development of vaccine, Cutter Incident
- Public towards vaccines and connection to historical policies and effects
- Connection to COVID attitude
Keywords:
polio epidemic, poliomyelitis, epidemic, vaccination, vaccine, After-care Committee, SCAA
Sources and Evidence collected so far (direct quotes in orange):
Meyers, K., Thomasson, M.A. Can pandemics affect educational attainment? Evidence from the polio epidemic of 1916. Cliometrica 15, 231–265 (2021). https://doi-org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/10.1007/s11698-020-00212-3
- Research findings of this study:
- 1 SD increase in polio intensity in 1916 reduced education by 0.07 years for 14-17 yrs and 0.11 years for 10 and under
- Annual attendance declined by 11 days for 14-17, and 17 days for 10 and under
- 1 out of 15 for 14-17 had one year less of education, 1 out of 10 for 10 and under had one less year of education
- Children in more affected areas are more likely to have school closure than children in less affected areas
- Kids under 10 most susceptible to polio
- Teens 14+ more likely to quit school during school closures and go directly to labor force
- “These cohort-wide reductions in educational attainment suggest that public quarantines, school closures, and parental fear magnified the social cost of the 1916 poliomyelitis epidemic, and may shed light on how epidemics can affect even people who do not contract the illness”
- “These results suggest that if these students leave school (either because they do not like virtual learning, or have a negative financial shock), they may be less likely to return and suffer from lower overall educational attainment as a result.”
- Main idea: polio epidemic affected young students education, particularly children’s because many schools shut down during the epidemic to prevent spread of polio
- Policies implemented:
- Strict quarantines
- Markers to label the homes of the infected
- NYC children 16 and under not allowed to leave the city unless they were certified (with a certificate) polio-free since January 1, 1916
- NYC and Philadelphia, city streets were washed with millions of gallons of water every day
- Ban on public gatherings where cases were reported
- 1916 summer, NYC blocked children's access to movie theaters, libraries, picnics, Sunday school
- Mass killing of 72,000 cats and 8,000 dogs out of fear that animals could carry the disease too
Laurel Iverson Hitchcock & Paul H. Stuart (2017) Pioneering Health Care for Children with Disabilities: Untold Legacy of the 1916 Polio Epidemic in the United States, Journal of Community Practice, 25:1, 90-111, DOI: 10.1080/10705422.2016.1269249
- “In 1916, the medical community knew little about the cause, spread and treatment of polio. Most physicians and scientists associated the disease with dirt and unsanitary conditions, not the virus known today as the cause of polio”
- Led to policies that tried to improve the cleanliness of society: Garbage removal, Food inspection
- Lillian Wald
- Nurse who founded a service to provide aftercare for polio survivors (NYC After-care committee)
- While hospitals had 8-week medical/surgical resources to treat polio patients, most patients needed months of convalescent care (treatment for recovering patients)
- Secured public and private funding, including lots from the Rockefeller family foundation
- NYC After-care Committee
- Objectives:
- “Maintain a central registry of all cases of infantile paralysis in New York City and a record of their aftercare;
- Divide the city into appropriate districts and group the cases within the districts so as to secure the best treatment and care without the overlapping of agencies or the neglect of any cases;
- Encourage or provide special clinics for the attendance of orthopedic surgeons and for the instruction of nurses and masseurs and other attendants;
- Conduct a bureau of advice and information as to the agencies and methods of aftercare; and
- Facilitate this aftercare in such other ways as may seem to the committee necessary and advisable (New York Committee on the After-Care of Infantile Paralysis Cases, 1917b).”
- Outside of New York, State Charities Aid Association (SCAA)
- Success and Challenges
- Not all children referred to the after-care got treatment, and those who did get after-care did not meet the standard of 3 treatments per week
- However, the program successfully developed braces, transportation, other treatments for paralyzed children. Committee had special workers that contacted physicians and brace makers to check quality and reduce brace costs
- Coordinated work with hospitals, nursing services, dispensaries
- Objectives:
- Efforts of these committees showed “a pioneering example of a locally driven health care effort for children during the Progressive Era. Their work can be seen as forerunners of contemporary public health functions performed by today’s practitioners (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008). For example, efforts by After-Care Committee leaders…show how early public health and social welfare leaders rallied local hospitals, clinics, charity groups, and other community partners to address the polio outbreak as a unified group, not as separate institutions. Historically, this movement did not occur in a vacuum.”
Yeracaris, Constantine A. “The Acceptance of Polio Vaccine: An Hypothesis.” The American Catholic Sociological Review, vol. 22, no. 4, 1961, pp. 299–305. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3708037. Accessed 21 Oct. 2022.
- Different factors that could affect who is likely to get polio vaccine:
- “age, sex, race, occupation, education and economic status among others, have been shown to be associated significantly with rates of acceptance of polio vaccine independent of the accuracy of knowledge about its usefulness…social and cultural factors which are ultimately accountable of social behavior”
- Article’s working hypothesis:
- “Favorable attitudes toward preventive medicine will be associated with favorable attitudes toward polio vaccine and polio vaccination; and the acceptance of preventative medicine will be directly associated with the acceptance of polio vaccination”
- Correlations
- Younger and more educated parents were more likely to vaccinate their children. Not related to parents occupation or religion
- Children vaccinated against polio were also more likely to be vaccinated against diphtheria and whooping cough
- More adults with positive attitudes towards vaccinations felt there was less of a risk involved with getting vaccinated than adults with negative attitudes
Exercise 2: Searching for Scholarly Sources
Dorfman, Robert G., et al. "Dr. Polio: Revisiting FDR's Medical Legacy." Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, vol. 35 no. 1, 2018, p. 160-192. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/695810.
Stephen E. Mawdsley (2016) ‘Salk Hops’: Teen Health Activism and the Fight against Polio, 1955 – 1960, Cultural and Social History, 13:2, 249-265, DOI: 10.1080/14780038.2016.1145393
Thompson, Kimberly M., and Radboud J.Duintjer Tebbens. “Retrospective Cost-Effectiveness Analyses for Polio Vaccination in the United States.” Risk Analysis: An International Journal, vol. 26, no. 6, Dec. 2006, pp. 1423–40. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2006.00831.x.
Stephen E. Mawdsley (2016) ‘Salk Hops’: Teen Health Activism and the Fight against Polio, 1955 – 1960, Cultural and Social History, 13:2, 249-265, DOI: 10.1080/14780038.2016.1145393
Thompson, Kimberly M., and Radboud J.Duintjer Tebbens. “Retrospective Cost-Effectiveness Analyses for Polio Vaccination in the United States.” Risk Analysis: An International Journal, vol. 26, no. 6, Dec. 2006, pp. 1423–40. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2006.00831.x.
Exercise 3: Digital Searches for Primary Source
Sachs, Ralph. "Ralph Sachs interview, 1988." Interview by Frances Feldman. digitallibrary.usc, University of Southern California, Libraries, 27 Apr. 1988, digitallibrary.usc.edu/asset-management/2A3BF1ODB1CSD?FR_=1&W=1536&H=714.
Trabing, Wally. “Groundwork laid to vaccinate 70,000 SC residents for polio.” Santa Cruz Sentinel. 1962-08-07. SCPL Local History. https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/91691.
"Announces 'Race Against Polio'." Photograph. Tessa, 10 Jan. 1957, tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/132928.
- This source is an interview with Ralph Sachs, who was a doctor, public health expert, and on the Public Health Care Commission team in Los Angeles. He talked about his work with the Commission and their polio immunization program, setting up clinics, supplies, as well as other programs that the Commission implemented such as tuberculosis, maternity, sanitation. He also talks about his work abroad in Pakistan, India, and Southeast Asia. I want to use this source because of what Sachs discussed with his work with polio immunization and use the Commission as an example of policies and programs that were developed to try and control the spread of polio.
Trabing, Wally. “Groundwork laid to vaccinate 70,000 SC residents for polio.” Santa Cruz Sentinel. 1962-08-07. SCPL Local History. https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/91691.
- This is a newspaper article covering Santa Cruz’s attempt to vaccinate 70,000 residents. The article credits the members of the committee working for the campaign and the tasks it faces: selecting clinic sites and recruiting volunteers. The oral vaccine is delivered by putting drops of the vaccine onto sugar and eating it. The article also talks about the reason behind this mass vaccination attempt. This source would be useful to me because it covers vaccination campaigns and the effort to inoculate people in America against the disease.
"Announces 'Race Against Polio'." Photograph. Tessa, 10 Jan. 1957, tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/132928.
- This image was taken January 10, 1957. The caption of the image: "Champion motorcycle racer Bill Todd is shown with Gerald Block, Van Nuys March of Dimes chairman, as they rehearse 'starts for the forthcoming mo- [sic] 'Race Against Polio' at 1 p.m. Jan. 20 at Midgetapolis speedway at Agoura. All proceeds from race will go to Van Nuys March of Dimes drive. Many famous motorcyclists will compete. Tickets may be purchased at Builders Emporium in Van Nuys.” This source shows the public efforts to raise awareness and funding for polio, which is an example of positive public response that I could use in my paper.