There was no polio vaccine in 1952. Paul Alexander had no choice in the matter.

[flashman13]

Refusing vaccination may be a choice, but it is a stupid choice.

I find the thought of unnecessarily exposing children to the possibility of 70 years in an iron lung horrifiying. Will the summer of '24 be the start of another polio epidemic? Make no mistake - it is coming to a home near you.

Something else you can thank Trump for.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/paul-alexander-texas-man-who-lived-most-of-his-life-in-an-iron-lung-dies-at-78/ar-BB1jPyAp

[Turbineguy]

1. My Wife's sister died from polio.

She still has a photo of the whole family with a small girl's body in an adult casket.

[Goodheart]

2. I'm 70 years old. I remember the 50's and 60's and the horrors of polio.

Parents were terrified. We were told to not play in sandboxes, or drink from public water fountains, among other warnings.

But absolutely the most horrible memories were of school mates who were crippled permanently by the disease, who had to struggle on crutches to make their way down hallways because their arms and legs had been so badly mangled.

The vaccine was a godsend, and I remember long lines to get it because we SAW with our eyes what had happened to so many people without it.

Anybody who denies their child a polio vaccine should be relieved of that child.

[ScratchCat]

3. My dad contracted it in the late 40's

Lived in a small town in Georgia. The only lasting issue was some joint problems luckily.

[montanacowboy]

4. My cousin died of polio

when he was 12 years old. They put him in an iron lung but he did not last long. He was a rising baseball star and when he died they named the baseball field after him. I was just a hair younger than he was and I can remember all the precautions, no playing here, no going there, no swimming pool, etc etc. It was a terrible time. When I was in high school we then saw all the kids who came through it in braces and crutches. And here we go again.

[SARose]

5. My best friend in high school

She was in an iron lung for 8 months at age 6. She wore braces and used crutches her whole life. Died at 42 from polio complications. Folks need to wake up!

[Lunabell]

6. What parent in their right mind would refuse to vaccinate their child?

Oh, yeah, their right mind.
Vacciations don't cause autism, but it seems these people would rather have a dead kid than one with autism. Yeah, jenny mccarthy, I'm thinking of you.

[Johnny2X2X]

7. People are insane

There are millions of parents refusing to vaccinate their children now against diseases we had mostly eradicated. All because Jenny McCarthy, YouTube, and Donald Trump told them to be suspicious of medical science.

We're going to see children dying and suffering lifelong problems from the Measles and other totally preventable diseases soon. The same group that downplayed 1.1 Million dead Americans from Covid, will think it's no biggy when a few kids start dying from the Measles.

[AZ8theist]

12. There is a site online called "jennymccarthybodycount" that tracked infections..

Unfortunately, the site hasn't been maintained since 2015.
There is some good information on the site including some very disturbing pictures of various disease affects.

You are correct, people are insane. Beyond that, when it comes to science or vaccines, most are INCREDIBLY STUPID.

Getting medical advice from a former Playboy bunny is the height of imbecility.
But that's been the Reich Wings MO for decades: Dumb down the population so they don't ask questions.
A stupid society is a compliant society.

A return to feudalism of the dark ages. A (VERY) few oligarchs in control of everything.

[Igel]

8. Probably not a large one.

Still, in some areas and cohorts ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/polio-vaccination-map-states-highest-lowest-rates-rcna43143

[AllaN01Bear]

9. nag ware again to turn off my adblocker , i have it on for a reason. none of your ads mean thing to me

and no.

[Aristus]

10. I used to think a really nasty plague would bring the anti-vaxxers back to Earth and to the realm of logic and reason.

COVID-19 proved me wrong. The sheer number of half-wits, fuckwits, and chuzzlewits out there who would rather die, gasping desperately for their last breath in a hospital bed rather than get vaccinated beggars the imagination.

[AllaN01Bear]

11. i worked for a bit at a auto body shop. the owner had contracted polio and was still doing his thearpy

exercises from what i understand , still.

[kskiska]

13. I'm almost 80. I remember how certain kids in school

had to be transported to a hospital upstate to be treated for polio. Some survived it, some didn't. Their stories made the front page of our local paper. I never heard of anyone refusing the vaccine when it became available back then.

[Ilsa]

14. I had the oral (sugar cube) vax, and it

was still available in the 1990s, but was more dangerous (live virus).

[ShazzieB]

19. I had already had all the shots before the oral vaccine came out.

So I had both. Don't remember much about getting the shots, bui I remember queuing up at the high school gym with my mom and my sister to get our sugar cubes!

[Mossfern]

15. I remember lining up in school hallways

to get our polio vaccinations. It was a shot back then (I was born in 1948) There were some kids that screamed just to mind fuck the kids waiting in line. I think we all got lollipops after.

I did have the measles, mumps, a sub-clinical case of chicken pox, and my mom sent me over to stay with my best friend who had rubella. Why would anyone want their child exposed to these diseases that may effect them for the rest of their lives?

I have a neighbor who refused to give her kids the vaccination against whooping cough...guess what happened. Unfortunately it spread to her husband as well. Why? SMH

[tavernier]

16. My mom had it.

She made sure I was first in line to get the vaccine.

[maptap22]

17. My brother had it

He has a deformed leg because of it. He is # 4 out of 6 kids. I can’t imagine my parents terror during that time with all the photos of the iron lungs. Very happy to get the vaccine when it became available. Not sure what year it was but I remember it being a drink.? I am the youngest of the 6 so I was very little at the time.

[LoisB]

18. I remember lining up in the school gym when I was in elementary school to get our polio shots (1953/54). I don't

remember anyone objecting. I assume the health department or school administration must have informed our parents but don't know if refusing was an option.

[peggysue2]

20. My uncle contracted lumbar polio in his early 40s

He ended up in an iron lung. Unlike Paul Alexander, he had some strength left in his diaphragm and with many months of therapy learned how to use the diaphragm to move the air in his lungs. It was a long process of gradually weaning him from the machine, using some sort of chest plate for several hours a day, and then eventually breathing on his own.

He was eventually released from hospital and went on to live a reasonably functional life. But his overall health was wrecked. He survived about 15 years post-infection dying at the age of 57.

My father visited frequently and one night he had me tag along. Later, I realized I shouldn't have been anywhere near the polio ward, the ignorance of a child. I didn't go in but stood by the door and large window nearby. My dad opened the door to a loud whooshing and clanking. The heavy door clanged shut and all was silent. Two other things stayed with me: a mirror tilted over my uncle's head and how it look as if he'd been swallowed by a giant metal monster. My uncle was a big man but that night, he looked small and vulnerable and scared.

Polio was/is truly terrible. We forget these deadly, communicable diseases at our own peril. One could say, vaccines have been too successful.

As an aside and bitter irony, I found out recently through my cousin that my uncle (who worked on the local health board) was responsible for making sure there were adequate polio vaccines distributed in all our county schools. My classmates and I, as well as thousands of school children throughout the area have my uncle to thank that no one was turned away.

So, this is my delayed kudos to my Uncle Merrill.

[gay texan]

21. Had an idiotic Aunt

That never got it due to it having "monkey blood" in its chemical make up.

We couldnt fucking stand her

[et tu]

22. vaccines are a godsend

i had polio and it can stay with you for life- post polio syndrome

[twodogsbarking]

23. I remember the entire family going to the local high school to get the original. Salk (and others) rock.

[Bev54]

24. I have a family friend who is the same age as my older sister, born in 1951

She had polio as a child and had to wear braces all through childhood. As an adult she no longer wears braces but has a very distinctive walk/limp. I remember us being given the vaccine on a sugar cube at school. Maybe that is why I do not hesitate to get any vaccines for myself, my children and push them to ensure my grandchildren are vaccinated. My son works in the Oil and gas industry that seems to produce a bunch of redneck "conservatives" many of who are anti liberal and anti vax but he has been indoctrinated by his Mother to make sure he and is family are fully vaccinated.

[GiqueCee]

25. I have nothing...

... but contempt for the sanctimonious, self-absorbed jerks that spew anti-vax propaganda. Their pompous, holier-than-thou condescension awakens my inner pugilist. They're too stupid to know, or too obnoxious to care, that they're doing Putin's job for him.
I was born doing the first Truman Administration, so, as I'm fond of saying, I've seen some shit. I saw childhood friends seemingly disappear, later to find out that they'd died from polio, measles, whooping cough, some other treatable disease.
The lowlifes that promote the malicious lies that fuel anti-vax tirades deserve a special kind of karma. I don't want them to die; I want them to suffer the way those ignorant souls that believed their bullshit suffered before they succumbed.

[keithbvadu2]

26. A recent topic said a little girl exposed 300 people to measles.

Measles was not important enough to vaccinate her, but her parents hauled he off to the ER, exposing many others.