Small Steps Read online

  Like Dr. Salk, Dr. Sabin did not patent his vaccine. While both men could easily have become millionaires, they chose instead to make their life-saving discoveries available for the public good.

  The last case of naturally occurring polio in the U.S. was in 1979, but each year a few people got vaccine-

  associated polio because their immune systems were not strong enough to fight off the low dose of live virus in the vaccine. In 1998, a group of parents whose children had contracted polio this way petitioned the Centers for Disease Control, a government agency responsible for preventing infectious and chronic diseases, asking that the use of the live virus vaccine be stopped. In 2000, the U.S. again began using only vaccine made with the inactivated virus.

  Vaccination programs were so successful that in 1994, polio was declared eliminated in the Western hemisphere, although occasional cases are diagnosed in families who refuse vaccination.

  In 1985—thirty years after the licensing of the Salk vaccine—Rotary International, a service organization, made the worldwide eradication of polio its top goal. Rotarians raised millions of dollars to buy vaccine and the equipment to distribute it; they recruited volunteers from all around the world to carry out the task.

  Three years later, the World Health Organization joined the effort. Soon the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund and the Centers for Disease Control signed on. Those four organizations have continued to work together to stamp out polio. It is the largest public health initiative the world has ever known. On a single day in 2001, one hundred fifty million children in India were immunized.

  In 1988, 350,000 cases of polio were reported world-

  wide. By 2005, that number had dropped to 1882. Ninety

  percent of those cases were in Nigeria, India, and Paki-

  stan. The World Health Organization has declared the western Pacific and Europe free of polio and in February 2006, announced that Egypt is now polio-free.

  In underdeveloped countries, it takes months of preparation before the vaccine can be given. Children must first be counted so authorities know how much vaccine is needed. A plan must be drawn up for how to get the vaccine to them.

  Timing is crucial because the vaccine has to be kept cold—a huge challenge in areas where there is no refrigeration. People in remote villages who have never received any kind of health care often must be persuaded in advance to allow their children to receive the vaccine.

  There may be no roads; many children live in areas that are nearly inaccessible. Volunteers travel by boat, bicycle, and even on foot, carrying cold-storage boxes of polio vaccine. In war-torn regions, armed guards are sometimes necessary. One vaccinator in Somalia was killed by a crocodile!

  A big obstacle to eradication is fear. Untrue rumors

  that the polio vaccine contained the AIDS virus or that

  the vaccine would leave girls unable to have children

  caused many parents in India and Nigeria to refuse vaccination for their children. Even one unvaccinated child makes it possible for polio to spread.

  In 2001, three of the necessary rounds of vaccine had been given in Afghanistan. The fourth and final doses were scheduled for November. Then the terrorist attacks of September 11 occurred, and by the time the vaccines were due, fighting between the Al Qaeda and U.S.-led coalition forces was at its peak. Thousands of people had fled Afghanistan to different areas.

  While bombers flew overhead, the courageous volunteers and staff spent three dangerous days administering polio vaccine. More than five million Afghan children were immunized.

  No one should have to suffer from a disease that has been preventable for more than half a century. Originally, 2000 was the target date for the world to be polio-free. Although that goal was not met, we are getting closer. Someday soon I hope I can say these words: There is no more polio. There is no more polio!

  Special Thanks

  My thanks to Renée Anderson and Dorothy Bremer, my hospital roommates, who dug into their memories for specific incidents and into their closets for old photographs and other memorabilia. Some of the pictures in this book are here because Renée and Dorothy so graciously shared them. Renée even saved some issues of the Clutch, our hospital newsletter, which helped enormously to jog my memory.

  The photos of my parents and my brother are courtesy of my mother, Elizabeth Schulze. Her memories also helped.

  Mary Beth Lamb, M.D., and Mark Levy, M.D., cheerfully answered my medical questions. I am grateful for their expert help and their friendship.

  The King County, Washington, public libraries always come through for me. When I ask questions such as, “What time was the ‘Lone Ranger’ broadcast on the radio in Minneapolis in 1949?” the staff is happy to help me find out.

  Richard R. Owen, M.D., retired medical director, Sister Kenny Institute, Minneapolis, helped me find my old hospital records. Joan L. Headley, executive director, International Polio Network, St. Louis, also helped me find the information I needed.

  My agent, Emilie Jacobson of Curtis Brown, Ltd., gave me confidence and encouragement. My editor, Abby Levine, offered thoughtful and skilled suggestions which greatly improved my original manuscript.

  Last, thank you to the many students in schools where I’ve talked who, upon learning I once had polio, asked me to write a book about it. Here it is; I hope you like it.

  Books for Young People

  by Peg Kehret

  Abduction!

  Cages

  Danger at the Fair

  Deadly Stranger

  Don’t Tell Anyone

  Earthquake Terror

  Escaping the Giant Wave

  Five Pages a Day: A Writer’s Journey

  The Ghost’s Grave

  The Hideout

  Horror at the Haunted House

  I’m Not Who You Think I Am

  My Brother Made Me Do It

  Night of Fear

  Nightmare Mountain

  The Richest Kids in Town

  Saving Lilly

  Searching for Candlestick Park

  The Secret Journey

  Shelter Dogs: Amazing Stories of Adopted Strays

  Sisters, Long Ago

  Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio

  Spy Cat

  The Stranger Next Door

  Terror at the Zoo

  Trapped

  The Winner

  The Blizzard Disaster

  The Flood Disaster

  The Volcano Disaster

  Acting Natural

  Encore: More Winning Monologs for Young Actors

  Winning Monologs for Young Actors

  The Frightmares Series:

  #1: Cat Burglar on the Prowl

  #2: Bone Breath and the Vandals

  #3: Don’t Go Near Mrs. Tallie

  #4: Desert Danger

  #5: The Ghost Followed Us Home

  #6: Race to Disaster

  #7: Screaming Eagles

  #8: Backstage Fright

  A DVD, “A Visit with Peg Kehret,” is available from

  Best Day Ever Video Productions, 17116 N.E. 5th Place, Bellevue, WA 98008 (www.bestdayevervideo.com).

  You can learn more about Peg Kehret at her web site, www.pegkehret.com.

  Bibliography

  Black, Kathryn. In the Shadow of Polio. Boston: Addison-Wesley, 1996.

  Bruno, Richard L. The Polio Paradox. New York: Warner Books, 2002.

  Cohn, Victor. Sister Kenny: The Woman Who Challenged the Doctors. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1975.

  Kenny, Elizabeth, with Martha Ostenso. And They Shall Walk. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1943.

  Kluger, Jeffrey. Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004.

  Oshinsky, David M. Polio: An American Story. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

  Paul, John R. A History of Poliomyelitis. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971.

  Salgado, Sebastiao. Th
e End of Polio: A Global Effort to End a Disease. New York: Bulfinch Press, AOL Time Warner Book Group, 2003.

  Seavey, Nina Gilden, Jane S. Smith, and Paul Wagner.

  A Paralyzing Fear: The Triumph Over Polio in America. New York: TV Books, 1998.

  Silver, Julie K., M.D. Post-Polio Syndrome: A Guide for Polio Survivors and Their Families. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001.

  Smith, Jane S. Patenting the Sun: Polio and the Salk Vaccine. New York: William Morrow, 1990.

  Sterling, Dorothy, and Philip Sterling. Polio Pioneers.

  Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1955.

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1996, 2006 by Peg Kehret

  978-1-4804-6107-9

  Published in 2003 by Albert Whitman & Company

  6340 Oakton Street

  Morton Grove, Illinois 60053-2723

  www.albertwhitman.com

  Distributed by Open Road Distribution

  345 Hudson Street

  New York, NY 10014

  www.openroadmedia.com