Historical Perspective

Inspirational song: We Didn't Start the Fire (Billy Joel)

During the month of April, Rotary clubs are beginning a giant push to fund our efforts to eradicate polio once and for all. Rotarians are not just throwing money at this, to be clear, but also providing manpower and education to wipe this cruel virus off the globe, as best we possibly can. Our club president gave us a heads up that we would be scooping up funds wherever we could this month, from challenge goals and matching to setting out change jars on each lunch table to empty our purses and pockets into. Our local goal is five grand, and we have a group with deep pockets who will match it if we meet that. On top of that, there is a well-known couple with even deeper pockets who will match club funds two-to-one. (Bill and Melinda Gates are hardcore Rotarians.)

We had speakers who brought the abstract idea of polio into sharp relief. They were each members of our local club and they each had personal stories to share. One had polio as a child, and the other was a doctor who treated patients in the early days of the vaccine. The doctor could remember clearly entire wards full of children in iron lungs, not all of whom survived the disease. One year after the release of the vaccine, every one of those iron lungs stood empty, essentially shoved against a wall not to be needed again.

I'm just young enough not to have any understanding of this disease. So I was mildly shocked to hear of people I have lunch with every week who were exposed, through a friend or a sibling, or who had it themselves in their youth. I had no idea that there was a condition called post polio syndrome, where people who survived the virus in their youth could suddenly have symptoms in their middle age or senior years. Our doctor who spoke compared the nerves giving out late in life to a fence post that stood for years hiding a termite infestation. At some point it just can't stand anymore and breaks.

I learned a lot about the vaccine today, and how desperately important it is. There is no "cure" for polio. Only vaccination will work. For all that we have done to wipe it off the earth, there are still a few holdouts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. Vaccination efforts can't cease. It is not yet eradicated, and as long as it still exists in the wild, there is a chance that it could come back, even here in the US. This is why we do what we do. This is why we talk about it and raise money for it. It's important.