An Epidemic Reappears
November 14, 2007 > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays No Comments |
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TEDDY BEAR DAY
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY – -‘Nwaliwali: Ill, Illness
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “It is a sickness that no kahuna can heal.”
November, 1954: For the second time in three years, the health department for the Territory of Hawaii declares an epidemic of polio on Oahu and Maui (the first epidemic was in 1952). Hundreds of people, most of school age, are stricken with the disease, resulting in the formation of the Hawaiian Post-Polio Support Network, which works to this day.
These epidemics came just before the introduction of the first polio vaccine to the world by Jonas Salk. He tested the vaccine in 1952, but could not refine and ship the virus for three years, sadly missing both epidemics on Maui. The vaccine was made with an injection of dead polio viruses.
The second polio vaccine came from work by Albert Sabin, who developed an oral treatment. Sabin’s vaccine was available in 1962. Both vaccines have nearly eliminated polio from the world — only 2,000 cases were reported worldwide in 2006.
