Opinion: A polio survivor reflects on the last great epidemic

By Dr. John Tierney for the Newcastle Herald

April 14, 2021

On a hot January afternoon in 1946, the country doctor hurried from attending a polio case at a home in Cooma to the local hospital to deliver me.

Ten years before the Salk vaccine became available, the doctor brought the poliovirus with him on his fingers. It was a pity that he didn't wash his hands more thoroughly. Ten thoughtless seconds dramatically switched the direction of my future life path to one of slow deteriorating physical disability over 74 years - so far.

Only people over 70 would recall the terror that families felt during the polio epidemics that blighted Australia about every 10 years between 1910 and 1960, before the widespread use of the Salk and Sabin vaccines.

The poliovirus presents like flu, but overnight it can do irreversible damage to the body's nerves, muscles and joints.

The doctor brought the poliovirus with him on his fingers. It was a pity that he didn't wash his hands more thoroughly.

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