Dr. Jonas Edward Salk Essay, Research Paper

Dr. Jonas Edward Salk was born on October 28, 1914 in New York City. He laid the structure for our understanding of advanced study of disease and medicine. Jonas Salk was the oldest son in his family. His parents, even though they didn’t have any primary education, were determined to make their children succeed in the society. They encouraged their children to study hard and helped them when they fell. Jonas Salk was the first member of his family to go to college. He earned money from working after school and by earning scholarships from the school. Salk first applied/attended to study the law but he later changed to study medicine. While he was still attending medical school at New York University, he spent his time researching about influenza. His study about influenza became the basis of his later discovery on polio. At last, Jonas Salk graduated from New York University School of Medicine in 1939. He began teaching at the University of Pittsburgh in 1947, and began his research/studies there. During that time, poliomyelitis was going throughout the country. Finally in 1953, he announced the discovery of polio vaccine. To prove his discovery, he tested his vaccine with 1,830,000 children and was found that it was safe and successful. Jonas Salk received many awards because of this vaccine. He had no attempt to make any profits out of his discovery; he only wanted to heal the people with polio as soon as possible. Because of this vaccine, the disease, poliomyelitis became a very unusual disease today. Jonas Salk found the Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California in 1963. This Institute is now renamed, or known as the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He gave up his position in the University of Pittsburgh to dedicate all his time to his Institute and to his study of other fatal diseases. Dr. Salk spent the rest of his remaining years studying for a vaccine against AIDS. He was positioned as a director of the Salk Institute until his death in June 23, 1995 at the age of 80. “Jonas Salk had dedicated his life to finding the cure for war–in his words, “Finding a cure for the cancer of the world.” His scientific endeavors, great as they are, have become a secondary factor in Dr. Salk’s life.” http://www.wic.org/bio/jsalk.htm More and more, the discovery went deeper and deeper in depth. “A few years later, a vaccine made from live polio virus was developed, which could be administered orally, while Salk’s vaccine required injection. Further, there was some evidence that the “killed” vaccine failed to completely immunize the patient. In the U.S., public health authorities elected to distribute the “live” oral vaccine instead of Salk’s. Tragically, the preparation of live virus infected some patients with the disease, rather than immunizing them. Since the introduction of the original vaccine, the few new cases of polio reported in the United States were probably caused by the “live” vaccine which was intended to prevent them.” http://www.achievement.com/autodoc/page/sal0bio-1

From the late 1950’s to the early 1960’s, there was a conflict between what polio vaccine should be used. Dr. Jonas Salk discovered the first polio vaccine, which was inserted into the blood. It contained dead polio viruses, which were used to make the antibodies. On the other hand, Albert Sabin later brought up another form of polio vaccine, which was taken orally. His vaccine contained ‘weakened’ polio viruses instead of the dead. During modern days, Sabin’s vaccine is used in more places than Salk’s. Sabin’s vaccine takes less time and pain to insert them into the body but Salk’s require needles. Customers will support sugar cubes/sweetened syrup rather than the odd needle. People say that the Sabin vaccine lasts longer than the Salk vaccine. “What is the best answer? Is there one? Both Sabin’s and Salk’s vaccines have been approved for use. 99% of the polio vaccinations used in this country is Sabin’s, but that doesn’t mean it is more effective or necessarily better. A lot of it has to do with politics and companies that make the vaccines.” http://library.advanced.org/23054/polio/index.html; Bibliography 1.) Infopedia2.0: SALK, Jonas Edward 2.) Internet Source: http://www.kpbs.org/salkgilo.htm 3.) Internet Source: http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/95oct/jesalk.html 4.) Internet Source:http://library.advanced.org/23054/polio/index.html http://library.advanced.org/23054/polio/page2.html http://library.advanced.org/23054/polio/page3.html 5.) Internet Source: http://www.achievement.com/autodoc/page/sal0bio-1 6.) Internet Source: http://www.wic.org/bio/jsalk.htm