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Título

HOW FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT'S DIAGNOSIS INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLIOMYELITIS VACCINE

Resumo

Introduction: Poliomyelitis is an acute infectious disease caused by an enterovirus that invades the central nervous system and damages the anterior horn cells of the spinal cord and brainstem. Progress to lower motor neuron cell death leads to disruption of motor units and subsequent muscle weakness or complete paralysis. Poliomyelitis already existed long time ago, but only when Franklin D. Roosevelt was diagnosed with the disease that the United States mobilized to try to eradicate it. He was an American lawyer and politician who served as the president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. He was elected to four presidential terms, being the longest serving president. Objective: Describe Franklin D. Roosevelt's illness and the increase the research to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis in the United States. Method: A comprehensive, critical and objective analysis of the current knowledge about poliomyelitis and Franklin D. Roosevelt disease by means of a narrative literature review. Results: In August 1921, Roosevelt was swimming with his son, and the next day he started to fell weakness in his left leg. He also reported fever and a severe pain in his legs and lower back. After 3 days, the politician had loss of sensitivity of the lower limbs. The professor Robert Lovett of Havard confirmed the diagnosis of poliomyelitis. His diagnois was essential to change the attention to public health. After the issue entered the national political agenda, the US tried to develop a vaccine against the disease. In 1933, Roosevelt created a commission to research infantile paralysis that in 1938 became the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP), whose awareness campaigns described polio as the greatest threat to public health. The NFIP has funded many studies that sought to develop a vaccine for polio. In 1952, Jonas Salk, funded by the NFIP, completed a study to create a vaccine and wanted to test it in children. 90% of respondents allowed their children to participate in the study, which involved 1,5 million people. In 1953, the University of Michigan announced that the vaccine was safe and effective against the disease. Conclusion: Roosevelt’s diagnosis of poliomyelitis changed the American society’s look to the disease by stimulating the improvement of research through the creation of specific institutions that increased resources to develop a safe and effective vaccine.

Palavras Chave

Poliomyelitis; Franklin D. Roosevelt; Vaccine; Diagnosis

Área

História da neurologia