Jump to content

One Lump Or Two?


Waterside Echo

Recommended Posts

Doctor Salk would have been 100 years old today. Is there anyone of a certain age out there that remembers where and when they had to go for their vaccine. When you look back to the so called good old days we were very lucky to have people like him around. I can remember knowing a lad who finished up in a iron lung at Loge Moor hospital. W/E.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember getting my polio injections sometime in the mid nineteen fifties. I think the Salk vaccine was always injected at that time and consisted of killed polio virus.

The Sabin vaccine came later and was given orally, (one lump or two). The Sabin vaccine apparently was an attenuated virus rather than a dead one and there was much controversy as to it's safety I understand.

I seem to remember my younger sister had the suger lump vaccine at a later date.

The ones I do remember were the TB injections and the later test with a multipoint needle to check if the immunisation had worked. That really hurt !

This was necessary because the old lady next door developed bone TB.

HD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The ones I do remember were the TB injections and the later test with a multipoint needle to check if the immunisation had worked. That really hurt !

This was necessary because the old lady next door developed bone TB.

HD

Not a pretty sight, though it was nearly sixty years ago. W/E.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes I seem to remember my first polo immunisation was by injection, but all the "boosters" were sugar lumps. I'm guessing here but I think injections were from its introduction around the mid 50s to possibly as late as 1961-2, after that it was just sugar lumps, - presumably unless you were a type 1 diabetic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.

The ones I do remember were the TB injections and the later test with a multipoint needle to check if the immunisation had worked. That really hurt !

This was necessary because the old lady next door developed bone TB.

HD

The multipoint needle "Hief test" came before, not after, the TB injection. The test, with multipoint needles, injected dead TB bacteria into the skin. You went back about a week later and if your immune sytem had reacted to the hief injection, by going red and swelling up, it meant that you had natural immunity to TB and did not require the TB injection, - good news, except you now had a red swollen arm (it did eventually go on its own of course, - you were naturally immune) However, if there was no reaction to the Hief test, arm looked normal, than you had no natural immunity and required the full TB vaccination. Most people fell into this category, very few had the natural immunity, which is very worrying as to what would happen if there was an outbreak of TB and there was no vaccination as most people would then be susceptible to the disease.

I had to have both, they were done routinely to 11-12 year olds. Did they hurt? well most kids of that age would say yes but looking back I don't think I can say they are any more painful than any other vaccination.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had all my polio jabs and boosters at the clinic at Firth Park. I was at Firth Park Grammar School at the time and we were sent down in batches. I didn't need the TB jab, just got a sore arm as Dave says.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had a lad at school that got a mild form of polio that left him with a limp.

I had to have a polio booster when going off to one far east job. It was administered on a tea spoon. I was told that sugar lumps were out these days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had to have a polio booster when going off to one far east job. It was administered on a tea spoon. I was told that sugar lumps were out these days.

Is that because of diabetes, tooth decay, sugar highs and all the other problems now associated with refined sugar.

Sugar is sweet, white and deadly. John Yukin's book on it, called Pure, white and deadly attempted to reveal this years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had a lad at school that got a mild form of polio that left him with a limp.

I was unsure about when the polio vaccine was introduced other than sometime in the 50s.

There are people who have been paralysed for life by it in previous epidemics who have spent most of their lives on iron lung breathing machines.

However, and again I am not sure as I am not a big fan of sport / football like many, but when the vaccine first came out (as an injection) it was very unpopular (possibly because of perceived complications and risks as with MMR today) and very few people had it. At some point in the 50s there was an outbreak of polio and a star professional footballer was stuck down with it and either killed by it or paralysed by it, - either of which would end his career. Not surprisingly after this happened people were queuing up to have the vaccine.

Anybody know any more about this incident? to me it is just a very vague memory from somewhere a long time ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jeff Hall who played for Birmingham City and was an England International, contracted polio and died aged 29 in 1959.

Thanks madannie, that will be the player and incident I was thinking of. The name doesn't mean much to me because as I said previously football is just a game of little importance to me.

However, if the tragedy of his death from polio at the height of his career and fitness prompted people in their thousands to go and get a polio vaccination to protect themselves from a similar demise then that in itself is worthy of remembering him for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...