Sauk antipolio vaccine, is vitally important to all of us. Salk antipolio vaccine. Yet it is important we understand the results of scientific findings, so that we can be intelligent in making decisions about our own children. The Public Health service of the United States, whose duty it is to protect the health of the is quarter of physicians, scientists and other professional health workers. It has served us with integrity since1798. I have asked the Surgeon General of the Public Health service to talk with us tonight about vaccines. Vaccine ink particular. He has served as an officer in Service Since 1930, and as your Surgeon General, since 1948. It is my privilege to present a. Istinguished Public Servant doctor. Many christians have been raised in recent weeks many questions have been raised about the vaccine against polio. People have been asking, is it safe . Does it really protect against polio . Will there be enough vaccine for large coal use the summer . I will give you the for largescale use the summer . I will give you the facts as i know them and some outlook for the future. First, something about the disease itself. Polio occurs everywhere. In this country and throughout the world. Smallcaused by a virus so that its presence cannot be known, except by its effect on living animals or on cells in tissue culture. Nearly everyone is an repeated contact with the virus, and is infected by it at some time in life. The disease is generally mild and goes unnoticed. In cases that come to the attention of physicians, there is fever, sometimes a sore throat, sometimes the muscles eight, but recovery is usually prompt. However, in 1 or less of these cases, the virus invades the spinal cord or the brain, and causes muscle weakness or paralysis. Polio brings many personal tragedies each year. It is truly a National Health problem. But, we should recognize, that more children die each year from pneumonia, cancer, and heart disease, for instance, that from polio. Even without immunization, during an average year, the chance that any individual of any age will get paralytic 7500 oneitis is one in in 32,000 will suffer permanent crippling, and the chances are, only one in 60,000, will die from polio. So far this year, throughout the nation, in the age group 119, there have been 1. 3 cases of paralytic polio among each 100,000. Int year, the rate was one. 4 1. 4. While it is too early to make predictions, theres no reason to believe the incidence of polio this year will be greater than the fiveyear average. Experience indicates, however, there will be scattered local epidemics. Some may be severe. Let me tell you in a few words about the development of the polio vaccine. Dr. Jonas salk have the knowledge, intuition, and tenacity, to create a poliomyelitis vaccine out of that some of available scientific knowledge in virology and immunology. The National Foundation for infantile paralysis, through public contributions, supported the development and application of dr. Socks vaccine dr. S alks vaccine. It was carried to the expert mental state, carried on a large scale that experimental state, and launch this year under national leadership. I want to explain how i vaccine works and how it is made. To acquire immunity against contagious disease, our bodies must create defenses against bacteria or viruses which cause diseases. These defenses are called antibodies. Antibodies, of various kinds, are always wasnt in the system. Whenever the organisms of disease invade the body, the system becomes a battleground between the forces of health, and disease. Vaccines are the product of infectious agents. A vaccine stimulates the body to produce its own antibodies. These antibodies that can help prevent disease. That is how a vaccine against poliomyelitis works. Now, let me tell you how it is made. Polio virus is grown on tissue from monkey kidneys. Since there are three important types of poliovirus, age must be grown separately. Typed, the virus of each is inactivated separately, treatment with formaldehyde, days. Period of inactivated viruses are mixed. The mixtures are bottled for distribution. Explain let me explain what we mean by inactivation. At the beginning there may be as many as 4 million virus particles in a teaspoon of the substance. At the lowest point, that virus confirmation concentration can be measured, there might be only one virus particle in a court of material. But in practice manufacturers do not stop there. The inactivation process is continued beyond this point. You may wonder why manufacturers cannot treat vaccine fluid indefinitely with formaldehyde for safety. This is not possible because the vaccine loses some power to give immunity if it is treated too long. Bothd vaccine must be made as effective, and as safe, as possible. Been thattheory has during the period of treatment with from outside, the course of inactivation followed a Straight Line down. With continuing treatment, it was cocked let it there would be perhaps as little as one live virus in a million tons of vaccine fluid. Actual experience in largescale manufacturer, demonstrated that the course of an activation does not necessarily the course of inactivation does not follow a Straight Line. It often tends to form a curve. This means we cannot be sure there has been adequate inactivation by getting a single negative test, at a single point. We have learned it is necessary to have two consecutive negative tests, three days apart. Accumulatednce, since april 12, we have learned it was possible to build largescale manufacturing and testing and added safeguards. Our policy has been safety, not speed, except as the letter is compatible safety. There are three key points for safety testing during this process. The first, is during the period of inactivation to consecutive tests in tissue culture must show no inactive virus before the three types are mixed. The second test, is done after the picture. This test must show no live virus. Not only in tissue culture, but also in monkeys. The third is a test made on samples of vaccine, after it has been bottled, and before distributional. I want to make it clear and before distributional. Distribution. There is the possibility of very minute amounts of virus in the vaccine but these amounts have been reduced as low as science cant reduce them without restoring destroying effectiveness of vaccine. The possible presence of very small amounts of virus is true of all vaccines made, as this polio vaccine is made, from active virus. We have successfully used these vaccines, made from live organisms, for as long as 50 years, because medical science knows they convey a great benefit to humankind. It took time to work out the extremely Technical Details of with additional safeguards scientists and manufacturers. The new standards require some changes in production and testing processes by the manufacturers. Making testing of and testing vaccine is a difficult and delicate process. You cannot make viruses meet deadlines, you cannot force scientific work to meet dates on a calendar. And it must be kept in mind the entire process for manufacturing a vaccine from beginning to end takes about 90 days. That is a reason why we can give you no precise estimates of how much vaccine will be available at any event time. The manufacturers assured me they can and will produce vaccine under these requirements. But i want to make it clear, they will not be able to produce enough vaccine to immunize all children this summer. The field trial of 1954 showed though a child is vaccinated, there will still remain a chance they will acquire paralytic poliomyelitis because the vaccine does not cause all children to develop immunity. This is true with respect to all immunization procedures. It is true because there is no such thing as a perfect vaccine. This disease, poliomyelitis, or against any disease. But this is the important point. The risk is much less than if the child were not vaccinated. I have been presenting the National Picture as i see it, as Surgeon General, of the Public Health service. By releasing more vaccine for use, as i did yesterday, i have again demonstrated our confidence in its safety and effectiveness. But conditions vary widely in different sections of the country, and at different times of the year. These considerations must be applied by doctors in each community. H physician has her own training and experience and important late he knows the individual needs of patients at a particular time and in a particular community. The Family Doctor has, in addition, access to technical information, from Health Officers and medical organizations. It is the family physician who can best help parents who have special questions and problems. Decisions on polio vaccination, like many others concerning health that arise from time to time, our decisions parents have to make with the advice of their physicians. Jasmine and gentlemen, from the doctors report to you i know you feel the scientists, the Public Health service, the doctors and manufacturers, are working together, to give our children a safe and effective vaccine. To that end, we shall all continue to work. Specialhas been a report on the salk polio vaccine. Health,etary of education and welfare, and the Surgeon General of United StatesPublic Health service, have presented the highlights of the final report of the department, on the test conducted on the salk vaccine. United states Public Health service is part of the department of health, education, and welfare, charged protected health of the people of the nation. The Public Health service under the Surgeon General had its origins in early american history. When Congress Passed the first belt which led to the establishment of the Public Health service as we know it today, as part of the department of health, education, and welfare. The department is the newest and the federal government, having been established by congress on april 1, 1953. This program has come to you from washington. It was a presentation of the combined radio and television industry