Polio in the 1950s.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople would keep their kids inside. They would not let them go to swimming pools,\u201d said Tingle Barnes.<\/p>\n
Epidemics were reported in the summertime.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just every parent\u2019s worst nightmare,\u201d said Dr. Don Burke.<\/p>\n
The very contagious virus could lead to paralysis. Some with breathing issues were put in an iron lung.<\/p>\n
But Dr. Jonas Salk and his team changed the course of history for polio by developing the polio vaccine right here in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was tapped on the shoulder by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which had been formed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had had polio himself,\u201d Dr. Peter Salk, Dr. Jonas Salk\u2019s son, said.<\/p>\n
Peter was a child when his dad started working on the vaccine at the University of Pittsburgh. He was part of one of the first groups of kids to get the vaccine his dad was testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father brought the vaccine home, sterilized the needles and syringes on the stove, and then proceeded to put us through what we hated as kids: getting needles stuck into us,\u201d Peter Salk recalled<\/p>\n
Tingle Barnes was part of the trial, too. She remembers going to the now Watson Institute in Sewickley on Saturdays.<\/p>\n
She shared a story about her brother who picked up an illness and wasn\u2019t getting better. He went to Jonas at his pediatrician\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what he (Jonas) realized was Dick had been infected, but because he\u2019d had the vaccines, it had protected him against the worst of polio,\u201d said Tingle. \u201cJonas said, \u2018Because of you, I was able to tell that the vaccines were working.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The polio vaccine trial expanded to 7,500 Pittsburgh schoolchildren and then to a national trial of 1.8 million kids. By 1955, Jonas\u2019 polio vaccine was declared safe and effective.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat just created such a wave of relief around the country,\u201d Peter Salk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he saved a generation of children,\u201d Tingle said. \u201cYou can\u2019t say enough about that, whether it\u2019s Pittsburgh or across the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole community got behind this,\u201d Dr. Don Burke, dean emeritus of the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, said. He says the community saw this as an opportunity to prevent polio moving forward.<\/p>\n
Jonas Salk\u2019s polio vaccine is still used to vaccinate babies today.<\/p>\n
Burke is keeping Salk\u2019s accomplishments at the forefront by helping to curate an exhibit dedicated to Jonas at Pitt\u2019s School of Public Health. The Salk family donated many items, as they also want Jonas\u2019 legacy in Pittsburgh and across the world to be remembered.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo continue to expand what my father wanted to see in terms of making the best use we can of the resources at our disposal as humans to shape a better future,\u201d Peter Salk said.<\/p>\n
Download the FREE WPXI News app<\/a> for breaking news alerts.<\/p>\n Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>. | Watch WPXI NOW<\/a><\/p>\n TOP STORIES FROM CHANNEL 11 NEWS <\/p>\n \u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n