Reminder - Iron Lung

Poliomyelitis has existed as long as human society, but became a major public health issue in late Victorian times with major epidemics in Europe and the United States. The disease, which causes spinal and respiratory paralysis, can kill and remains incurable but vaccines have assisted in its almost total eradication today.

In 1928, Philip Drinker and Louie Shaw developed the "iron lung" to save the lives of those left paralyzed by polio and unable to breathe. Most patients would spend around two weeks in the device, but those left permanently paralyzed faced a lifetime of confinement. By 1939, around 1,000 were in use in the US. Today, the iron lung is all but gone, made redundant by vaccinations and modern mechanical ventilators.

Reference:http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/timelines/polio
http://amhistory.si.edu/polio/timeline/
Corina Marinescu