This Day In History: February 23, 1954

Sixty-five years ago today, a group of elementary school students in Pennsylvania became the first people in the United States to receive a polio vaccine. Polio, a viral infection that often causes permanent paralysis and, sometimes, even death, was a scourge, impacting tens of thousands of Americans (mostly children) every year. Developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, the widespread use of the original vaccine led to the virtual eradication of the polio virus in the United States; the last case to originate in the country occurred in 1979.

Is polio set to make a comeback?

It could. While Salk’s vaccine (and its cheaper, less invasive counterpart developed by Albert Sabin) have practically eradicated polio from the world, the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria still have outbreaks. Because polio is a communicable disease, travelers to those regions can very easily spread it to non-immunized people here in the United States. And, due to the tenacity of the anti-vaxxer movement within the United States, an increasing number of children in this country are not being vaccinated.

The anti-vaccination movement began when Andrew Wakefield, a British doctor, published a study in which he alleged a link between the MMR vaccine (which prevents mumps, measles, and rubella) and autism. The research was eventually debunked and Wakefield…