My Experiences During the Polio Epidemic - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

My Experiences During the Polio Epidemic - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

It was the summer of 1954. Steamy waves of heat seeped up from the street. My sneakers’ rubber soles were hot, a rim of sweat mustached my lip, and sewing bees were buzzing on the electric wires above.  A black ambulance rolled by.  A person in white sat next to a small person covered in a white sheet and lying on a stretcher in the rear. The ambulance was transporting a kid with polio to the Charles V. Chapin Hospital in Providence, RI, at that time one of the foremost infectious disease hospitals in the world.  

It was the polio epidemic that prevented us from swimming in a pool, going to the carnival, and to the movies. Various attempts at controlling the disease, including quarantining children, were not working. Thinking of nothing but summer fun, I thought it was unfair. We were out of school. I was a young teenager ready to enjoy the days — but no. 

The worsening epidemic was frightening.  The outbreak hit in 1952, with 58,000 cases reported; more than 3,000 people died and more than 21,000 were left with some degree of paralysis. Schools closed, the public grew desperate, and pressure on scientists increased. That same year Dr. Jonas Salk announced that he had discovered an effective vaccine, but that he needed to test it on a large scale.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

In 1954, the first mass inoculation of children for polio began in Pittsburgh. 

On April 12, 1955, the vaccine was deemed safe and effective. After the announcement, church bells rang, factories stopped for a moment of silence, and spontaneous celebrations broke out all over the country. I remember well watching the news on our ten-inch television set and getting excited about going to the pool, or the movies. 

The vaccine was made available and administered to us on the grounds of the Chapin Hospital. I was one of the early ones. The hospital housed several kids with polio who were enclosed in horizontal, cylindrical respirators, iron lungs, murmuring rhythmically. For some reason I do not remember, I had a chance to see these children.  Sorrowfully, they glanced back at me through a mirror positioned at the head of the respirators in which they lay face up.

I was distracted from my self-pity of not being free for the summer because, at that point, I realized I was free, indeed. I vowed then never to avoid taking any vaccine, ever.

We stood in line for what seemed hours to get the shot. I winced. As I walked away holding my arm, I looked back at the windows of the hospital and thought of the kids inside for whom the “shot in the arm” came too late.

I thought of them lying flat, unable to run, swim or breathe on their own. From that point on, I realized the importance of vaccines, an importance that grew as I continued in my medical career, understanding well how vaccines had saved millions, maybe billions, of lives. 

Dr. Ed Iannuccilli is the author of three popular memoirs, “Growing up Italian; Grandfather’s Fig Tree and Other Stories”, “What Ever Happened to Sunday Dinner” and “My Story Continues: From Neighborhood to Junior High.”  Learn more here.