I want to thank Bill Mann for his column regarding vaccines.
As another person who was part of the March of Dimes era, I am keenly aware of how many lives were affected by polio and …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you had an active account on our previous website, then you have an account here. Simply reset your password to regain access to your account.
If you did not have an account on our previous website, but are a current print subscriber, click here to set up your website account.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
* Having trouble? Call our circulation department at 360-385-2900, or email our support.
Please log in to continue |
|
I want to thank Bill Mann for his column regarding vaccines.
As another person who was part of the March of Dimes era, I am keenly aware of how many lives were affected by polio and other serious incurable illnesses, such as malaria, plus several viruses.
The Salk vaccine was licensed in1953; annual cases dropped from 58, 000 to 5600, and by 1961 only 161 cases remained.
For the record, Salk did not profit from his vaccine formulation. In a 1955 interview, when asked who owned the patent for the vaccine, he famously replied: “WELL, THE PEOPLE, I’D SAY. THERE IS NO PATENT; WHO CAN PATENT THE
SUN?”
Other often serous illnesses such as tetanus, also known as lockjaw, diphtheria and whooping cough remain highly infectious but are now hardly noticed due to vaccines.
Whooping cough is the exception.10,000 cases are typically reported nationally each year. This year there was a five-fold increase from 2023 in the U.S., including Washington State, usually with people who have never been vaccinated.
Norma Fried
Port Townsend
