Polio 
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SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
4/14/2022
Using DDT to Fight Polio was a Mistake, but Learning from it was Valuable
by Elena Conis
Recent Ivermectin mania echoes the moment in 1940s America when spurious science led American communities to demand to be sprayed with the noxious insecticide, believing it would prevent polio outbreaks; the episode underscores the need for patience in pursuing public health.
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SOURCE: The Atlantic
3/10/2022
Even for Polio, Parents were Slow to Vaccinate their Kids
Dropping the historically unsupported contrast between the uptake of the polio and COVID vaccines by parents of young children should prompt us to stop moralizing and start considering the social, political, and economic factors, including poor healthcare access, that always hinder vaccine campaigns in the US.
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10/3/2021
Ending COVID in Our Lifetimes Requires Seeing the Bonds of Shared Humanity
by Michael Hogan
"In the end, like those who sought to escape the plague in Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death,” we are all vulnerable and at risk if we do not look to see that our fellow human beings both at home and abroad are safeguarded as well."
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SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times
8/31/2021
Fear and Misinformation Plagued the Polio Vaccination Campaign, Too
Chicago Sun-Times Columnist Neil Steinberg offers some cold comfort: media voices spreading misinformation about COVID vaccinations have clear forebears in the press.
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SOURCE: Washington Post
8/2/2021
A Century Ago, FDR Was Stricken with Polio, Changing History
"It was a transformative moment in American history, and the start of the “central event” in the life of one of the country’s greatest presidents, historian Hugh Gregory Gallagher has written."
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SOURCE: Scientific American
3/20/2021
We Need Social Science, Not Just Medical Science, to Beat the Pandemic
by Nicholas Dirks
"In order to ensure that scientific advances work not just to create new medicines but to help lead to a healthier and more just world, we need to ensure that science and social science work hand in hand as well."
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SOURCE: The Conversation
1/14/2020
The Great Polio Vaccine Mess and the Lessons it Holds about Federal Coordination for Today’s COVID-19 Vaccination Effort
by Bert Spector
The introduction of the Salk polio vaccination offers lessons for governments trying to roll out a coronavirus vaccine in a climate of mistrust and poor distribution infrastructure.
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4/12/2020
The President vs. The Epidemic: FDR's Polio Crusade
by Dave Welky
No president can end an epidemic single handedly, but they can inspire a popular movement that eradicates a disease. Such was the case with Franklin Roosevelt and polio.
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SOURCE: The Atlantic
7/28/2019
Candy Land Was Invented for Polio Wards
A schoolteacher created the popular board game, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, for quarantined children. An Object Lesson.
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SOURCE: NYT
8-29-16
In Reaction to Zika Outbreak, Echoes of Polio
New York’s polio epidemic a century ago had many of the problems found in the response to Zika: false rumors, ethnic prejudice and ineffective measures.
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2-10-14
Review of James Tobin's "The Man He Became"
by Bernard von Bothmer
The greatest comeback in American political history?