Polio epidemics, which paralyzed and killed children and terrified their parents before Dr. Jonas Salk developed a vaccine, are brought to life by a survivor of a 1953 outbreak.
Janice Flood Nichols was a DeWitt first-grader in 1953 when she and seven classmates were stricken with polio during the epidemic. Three of them, including her twin brother, died. Nichols recovered. The next year, she took part in testing the vaccine developed by Salk. Today she advocates for vaccination against polio and other diseases.
On this week’s HealthLink on Air, Nichols talks about her mild case of post-polio syndrome, which can attack polio survivors decades later. Plus, Neurologist Burk Jubelt discusses the vaccine in use today, and the post-polio syndrome clinic he runs at Upstate University Hospital.
Also on the show, a real-life case involving medical ethics.
Join us this Sunday, July 31 at 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on WRVO.