MMR Vaccine (Measles-Mumps-Rubella): What You Should Know

People From India Remember Life Before The Polio Vaccine. They Don't Want To Go Back

Vijay Yeldandi was an energetic and rambunctious toddler when he was growing up in India. But at the age of two, he came down with polio and became paralyzed from the neck down.

Over time, "I learned how to walk with braces and crutches," recalls Yeldandi, now a professor of medicine and surgery at the University of Illinois Chicago who is primarily based in India. "I had a different childhood, because I would see all of my peers going out, my siblings going out and playing cricket, and I was just sitting and watching them."

For many people like Yeldandi who grew up in India or have family members there, polio is a recent — a deeply personal — memory. Vaccines for the disease didn't become widely available in the country until the early 1970s, nearly two decades after they were distributed in the U.S. At that time, India had an estimated 200,000 polio cases per year. It was finally declared polio-free in 2014.

Now, as vaccine skepticism and anti-vaccine rhetoric gain more political power with president-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. As health secretary, Indians and Indian-Americans who went on to careers in medicine and public health are expressing alarm at the possibility that policy changes could allow the virus to spread again in the U.S. That worry has deepened in the wake of a recent New York Times story about how lawyer Aaron Siri, a longtime ally of RFK Jr. Who is helping vet candidates for positions in the health department, brought forth legal challenges to the approval of polio vaccine in 2022. 

Upon learning of Siri's petition, "all I could see in my mind's eye was the incredible suffering that polio has caused," said Aparna Nair, a historian of public health and disability at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She thought of a family member who'd told her the story of "standing next to her son helpless while he cried receiving therapy for polio. He still has something of a limp."

The Siri report underscored that the U.S. Is in a political moment "unique in the history of public health," Nair said — namely, that people close to power "are antagonistic to the idea that societies and states, working together, can ameliorate population-level illness and make life better for us."  Trump has said that the U.S. Is "not going to lose the polio vaccine" under the new administration, although he has expressed concerns about other childhood vaccines. RFK Jr. Also recently said he's "all for" the polio vaccine, but has cast doubts on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in other comments in recent years. The CDC recommends that all children get four doses of the polio vaccine, and all 50 states as well as Washington, D.C., require children entering public school or daycare to receive polio vaccinations. Many states do, however, allow exemptions for personal or religious reasons. Experts STAT spoke with were less concerned about the walking back of vaccine requirements, but did worry that increased rhetoric targeting the vaccine could lead more parents to choose not to vaccinate their children.   "I don't know where this will go," Nair said. "I'm sorry to be so bleak, but as a historian, seeing all of these forces come together, it's a bit scary." Polio is a viral disease that mainly affects children under the age of five. One in 200 cases leads to irreversible paralysis. It's highly contagious and spreads orally or through tiny, often invisible amounts of feces. Thanks to the rollout of two vaccines for the disease, cases of polio have decreased by 99% since 1988. It's gone from being endemic in 125 countries to just two."Polio is something very personal to me. I contracted polio when I was 15 or 18 months old and lost some power on my right lower limb," said K.M. Venkat Narayan, a professor of global health at Emory University.  When he contracted polio, a vaccine was not yet available in India. The vaccines have prevented a total of 20 million cases of childhood paralysis since 1988, according to the World Health Organization.  "To talk about anything to undo the vaccine programs that prevented this horrible disease is ridiculous," Narayan said. That sentiment was echoed by Madhukar Pai, the Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology and Global Health at McGill University.  "It's actually really mind-boggling why we would turn our back on one of the biggest inventions that has saved millions of people from death and disability as the polio vaccine has," he said. Newsletter Weekdays Sign up for Morning Rounds

Understand how science, health policy, and medicine shape the world every day

Several experts wondered if the polio vaccine is in part a victim of its own success. Because the virus is a distant memory for most in the U.S., the public may be more susceptible to fearmongering about side effects of the vaccine rather than fearing the disease itself. 

"It is infuriating to watch people who are so privileged just say, 'Oh, well, I don't need to worry about that.' But you do, that's the problem. Right now you don't need to worry about it. But we are facing down the barrel of vaccine preventable diseases reemerging," said Grace Rossow, a polio survivor and advocate who was born in India and now lives in the U.S. 

The experts who spoke with STAT were not worried about imminent outbreaks of polio across the country. But they emphasized the need to maintain high rates of vaccination to protect communities if someone gets polio while traveling abroad. If there are pockets of populations where vaccinations sink, the people who live there become susceptible to outbreaks. This is likely how polio spread in a Hasidic Jewish community in 2022, leading to the first case of paralytic polio in over a decade in the U.S.

If small numbers of people in the U.S. Begin refusing to vaccinate children for polio, it could also have global consequences, experts said. Unvaccinated Americans might get polio and then spread the virus in countries where vaccination rates are not as high, putting already-vulnerable people at higher risk, notes Nahid Bhadelia, the director of Boston University's Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, whose uncle in India had polio.

"I want to be the last generation who remembers the impact of polio," she said. "I wish our children's generation didn't have to deal with this anymore. I wish polio would be the second disease we eradicate." 

Polio And Its Vaccine: Why The Virus Is Being Discussed In Today's Political Sphere

Your browser is not supportedusatoday.Com

usatoday.Com wants to ensure the best experience for all of our readers, so we built our site to take advantage of the latest technology, making it faster and easier to use.

Unfortunately, your browser is not supported. Please download one of these browsers for the best experience on usatoday.Com

Trump Is Right About The Polio Vaccine: An American Triumph

Los Angeles, CA-ORIGINAL CAPTION: Until the polio vaccine came along, clinics across the US were ... [+] crammed with iron lungs. Photograph ca. 1950.

Bettmann Archive

Earlier this week, President-Elect Donald Trump declared himself a "big believer" in the polio vaccine, having already previously called it "the greatest thing." He's absolutely right. The story of the polio vaccine is not only one of saving lives but also a powerful testament to the resilience and ingenuity of the American spirit. It's a story of progress driven by the dedication of scientists, health workers, Rotarians, and the American public.

Trump, born just nine years before the first polio vaccine was licensed in the U.S., grew up during a time when polio was a pervasive and terrifying threat. In the years following World War II, the U.S. Faced a resurgent polio epidemic that paralyzed and killed thousands. Between 1948 and 1955, according to a history compiled by the Mayo Clinic, the virus spread with such ferocity that parents kept their children away from swimming pools, public gatherings, cinemas and even schools.

For those old enough to remember, the fear was palpable. Jan Nichols, a New Yorker, was just six years old when she survived a polio epidemic that devastated her community. In her memoirs, Twin Voices, Jan writes how in her classroom of 24 students, eight were diagnosed with paralytic polio. Three died, including her twin brother, Frankie. "We never knew a day without each other," Jan recalls in her memoirs. "Then suddenly, in just a few days, Frankie was dead, [and] I was fighting for my life... This was the horror of polio before vaccines were available."

Jan's story was tragically common. In 1952 alone, the U.S. Recorded 57,628 cases of polio, leaving thousands paralyzed or dead, according to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. It seemed that Americans were destined to live in fear every summer—until the nation responded with an unprecedented effort.

America's First Moonshot: The Vision to Defeat Polio

A decade and a half before America sent a man to the moon, the country embarked on its first "moonshot": to develop a vaccine for polio. The campaign galvanized the nation, with ordinary Americans literally sending dimes to the White House to fund the effort. The result was historic, as grippingly told by Pulitzer Prize winning author, David M. Oshinsky, in his epic work, Polio: An American Story, who described the impact of Salk's vaccine as setting off "one of the greatest celebrations in modern American history."

In April 1955, Dr. Jonas Salk announced the successful development of the first polio vaccine. In response to a question about patenting the vaccine, Salk famously said, "The people own it. Could you patent the sun?" His selflessness and innovation led to one of the greatest achievements in medical science. Within just a few years, polio cases in the U.S. Plummeted.

By the 1960s, another American scientist, Dr. Albert Sabin, advanced the fight further by developing the oral polio vaccine—those famous "two drops." This innovation made mass vaccination campaigns feasible, and by 1979, the U.S. Was declared polio-free.

The challenge, however, extended far beyond America's borders. How could the vaccine reach the millions still at risk in other parts of the world? Enter another great American-founded institution: Rotary International.

Quest for a Polio Free World: Civic Leadership on a Global Scale

Founded in 1905 by Illinois attorney Paul Harris, Rotary International exemplifies the kind of civic association that American political scientist Robert Putnam celebrates in his seminal works, Bowling Alone and The Upswing (and now the subject of Netflix film, Join or Die). They foster mutual trust and reciprocity, strengthening civic health and society. Rotary, with its global reach and humanitarian ethos, embodies the spirit of collective action that Putnam describes as central to America's past successes—and a model for its future.

By the 1970s, Rotary had grown into a global network of tens of thousands of clubs. Inspired by the eradication of smallpox in 1979, then-Rotary President Clem Renouff of Australia proposed the organization pursue an audacious goal: to make polio the second disease eradicated from the world. Polio's characteristics—its reliance on human hosts to thrive and the availability of effective vaccines—made it a suitable target for complete eradication. Nonetheless, Skepticism abounded that such a goal was feasible, and not least that it could be spearheaded by a civic organization run mostly by volunteers. But Rotary persisted, funding a pilot vaccination campaign in the Philippines. The early success of this initiative set the stage for a global commitment.

MORADABAD, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA - FEBRUARY 9: Health workers and volunteers immunize children in the ... [+] streets of Moradabad during the National Immunization Days (NIDs) February 9, 2003 in India. India is one of the last remaining reservoir of the wild polio virus, with most cases reported in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Moradabad is the worst district with 79 cases of polio in 2002, out of 1600 cases countrywide. In 2003, after intense vaccination campaigns, the total number of polio cases in India was 214. To eradicate polio worldwide an international investment of three billion U.S. Dollars over 15 years, as well as over 160 countries and 20 million volunteers have been used toward fighting the disease. Polio is the world's largest public health initiative, spearheaded by World Health Organization, rotary, Unicef, the CDC and national governments. (Photo by Jean-Marc Giboux/Getty Images)

Getty Images

In 1988, the world came together to launch the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), with Rotary playing a pivotal role. Rotary's grassroots fundraising, volunteer mobilization, and advocacy efforts united governments and organizations in a shared mission. As just one powerful example of this, on a personal level, Ramesh Ferris, a Rotarian who contracted polio as a child in India and was adopted in Canada, became a leading advocate. In 2008, Ramesh hand-cycled across Canada to raise awareness and successfully lobbied - alongside mutliple Rotarians - political leaders from all parties to extend their support. Since 1988, Canada has committed over CAD $1 billion to the cause. In 2026, for his part, still determined and committed as ever, Ferris will serve as a district governor in Canada's Yukon region—a testament to the enduring impact of Rotary's work.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 28: ( L-R ) Kevin Rudd, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs with ... [+] Polio survivor Ramesh Ferris & Nigerian Save the Children Foundation representative Catherine Ojo performs on stage at the End Of Polio Campaign Concert on October 28, 2011 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Matt Jelonek/WireImage)

WireImage

In total, since the GPEI's launch, global polio cases have decreased by 99%, from 350,000 annually to just a handful in two endemic countries. Once eradicated, the benefits will be transformative. A recent economic analysis, published by the Society for Risk Analysis, estimates the financial savings and health gains from polio eradication at $28 billion (in 2019 dollars). The ripple effects will extend beyond health, symbolizing what global cooperation can achieve.

To be clear, we are not past the finish line just yet. Recent detections of polio in wastewater systems in Europe and other regions serve as stark reminders of the virus's resilience. Polio is a master of survival, capable of reemerging quickly even after seeming defeat. This is why the phrase remains true: as long as polio exists anywhere, it is a threat everywhere. No one wants to see a return to the dark days when children lay in hospital wards, paralyzed, confined to ghastly iron lungs. This is why the unique global partnership spearheaded by Rotary International - supported every step of the way since the very beginning by the American public - must persevere, staying focused and resolute until the very last case of polio.

Leadership Lessons from the Polio Campaign

America's role in this journey—from the development of the vaccine to its enduring support for eradication efforts—remains a shining example of innovation. The bold vision to develop a vaccine, followed by an unrelenting commitment to a polio-free world, reflect the best of the American spirit. As President-Elect Donald Trump rightly noted, the polio vaccine is "the greatest thing." It unquestionably represents what can be achieved when innovation, perseverance, and collaboration converge. As a testament to what can be achieved when innovation, determination, and collaboration come together. As we edge closer to eradicating this devastating disease, Trump's endorsement serves as a timely reminder of the power of public health triumphs to unite and inspire us all. Now is the time to recommit ourselves to ending polio once and for all.

---