Poliomyelitis
Some Egyptian drawings are said to depict polio victims;
This disease has been in existence for most of history.
Polio became an epidemic as early as eighteen eighty,
But yet unnamed and cause unknown it was big mystery.
By the nineteen thirties this disease was rampant in America.
Its cause, the poliovirus was discovered in nineteen hundred eight.
Commonly called infantile paralysis as it attacked children,
With no cure yet it was crippling and killing at a dreadful rate.
Polio attacked my brother in nineteen Hundred and thirty.
Our family was quarantined for many a weary week.
None of the rest of us got it and quarantine was lifted.
My folks went from doctor to doctor, non-existent cure to seek.
He was left with weakened system and slightly shorter leg
But not as crippled as were many others that we knew.
Meetings were held in churches and homes to pray for cure.
Jonas Salk developed vaccine in Nineteen Hundred Fifty Two.
Improvements have been made to make the vaccine safe.
Children are vaccinated against the disease at early ages.
This cure was so needed, so longed for and avidly sought
Its discovery made headlines on newspapers’ front pages.
For Carolyn’s and James' History challenge
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