The Victoria Advocate - http://TheVictoriaAdvocate.com

Marking 50 years since a cure

Wednesday, April 13th, 2005

Local polio survivors will meet Thursday, as they do every second Thursday of each month, to talk about their lives and share modes of coping with the post polio syndrome that many now endure.

Tuesday marked the 50th anniversary of the announcement of an effective vaccine against the debilitating illness that struck the world with a vengeance during the first half of the 20th century.

Many of the three dozen members of the Victoria Area Polio Survivors group - who live in DeWitt, Calhoun, Lavaca and Victoria counties - now suffer from the muscular weakness that is called post polio syndrome, a reoccurrence of symptoms from which most had recovered.

The group, which is one of 18 in the state, meets between 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center, 102 Medical Drive in Victoria.

Gov. Rick Perry proclaimed Tuesday as Polio Survivors Day in the state of Texas, noting that it marks the 60th anniversary of the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio in 1921 at the age of 39 and later became the nation's 32nd president.

The anniversary of Roosevelt's death is also the anniversary of the April 12, 1955, announcement that Dr. Jonas Salk had developed an effective vaccine against the crippling disease.

More than 1,000 people in Texas were infected with the poliovirus prior to the introduction of the vaccine, according to the Texas Polio Survivor's Association. It was one of the most feared diseases in America, crippling, paralyzing and killing.

In post polio syndrome, symptoms can reoccur from one to four decades after recovery from the initial illness.

The symptoms can include new muscle weakness in limbs that may or may not have been affected at the time of the original infection.

General fatigue, muscle and joint pain, breathing and swallowing problems are common signs. Sleep related breathing disorders, such as sleep apnea, and decreased tolerance of cold are also symptoms.

The Victoria Area Polio Survivors group has guest speakers periodically and has informal, supportive meetings, according to Elaine Cooper, who leads the group.

For more information, contact Cooper at 361-572-0619 or the Texas Polio Survivor's Association at Web site http://www.texaspolio.org/.