1955 Polio Epidemic

Background Information

In 1955, a polio epidemic swept the nation, but was especially devastating in Outagamie County.  That summer, Outagamie County had the highest rate of incidence of polio cases in the nation!  The public scare that resulted led to an increased emphasis on sanitation and improvements in the local healthcare system.  The 1955 approval of Jonas Salk’s killed virus polio vaccine was met with much hope and relief.  At the time, it meant there was an end in sight to summers spent in isolation and to the gripping fear of paralysis.  Today, polio is virtually unknown to Fox Valley residents, and Valley children are able to spend their summers just being kids.

Though polio was not a new disease in the 1950s, for unknown reasons the early 1950s were epidemic years for the disease that could cause paralysis and in some cases death.  Adults could contract polio, but the disease often struck children because their sanitary practices were not as good as those of adults.  The first symptoms of the polio virus mimicked those of a cold, with a headache, chills, a slight fever, and general fatigue.  With a mild case, which the majority of cases were, these may be the only symptoms ever felt.  However, in more serious cases, the disease progressed to cause extreme pain and muscle paralysis.

In some cases, paralysis was temporary; in others it was permanent.  The most lethal strain of the disease was bulbar polio, which attacked and paralyzed the muscles that regulated breathing.  Patients with bulbar polio spent time in “iron lungs”, machines that artificially inflated and deflated the patient’s lungs.  For other types of polio, patients’ limbs might be immobilized in splints or patients might undergo the “Kenny Treatment,” in which they were covered with steaming hot wet blankets and their muscles were worked and stretched.

In the Fox Valley, 1952 and 1955 were epidemic years.  In 1952, 59,000 paralytic polio cases were reported nationwide, the highest rate of incidence up until that point.  However, the 1955 epidemic was even more catastrophic, at least in the Fox Valley.  While polio commonly affected 20 people in 100,000 in the years before a vaccine, the summer of 1955 brought a rate of incidence of 128.48 per 100,000 to Outagamie County – over three times that in Boston, which had the second highest rate.  Within Outagamie County, Kaukauna had the highest concentration of cases, followed by Little Chute, Kimberly, and Appleton.

The 1955 epidemic effectively ended summer for Fox Valley children.  In some communities, as in Kaukauna, youngsters under age 16 were restricted to their homes, and public playgrounds and pools were closed.  Children could not gather to play for fear they would pass the disease from one to another.  The opening of schools was delayed, and toy stores and the Parks and Recreation Department delivered toys and craft activities to youngsters at home.

Parents were desperate for the medical community to find a cure or a way to prevent the disease.  Donations made to the March of Dimes helped to support the research that would make this possible.  In the meantime, added emphasis was placed on sanitary practices and community health by increasing public education on the way the disease spread and by improving healthcare in the Valley.  Schools educated children about hand-washing and warned them to avoid public drinking fountains.  Hospitals hired more nurses, increased training, and brought in extra iron lungs to help treat those with the disease.

Jonas Salk’s killed virus vaccine, which had performed well in 1954 field tests, promised an end to summers like that of 1955.  It was a three-part vaccine.  Though some Fox Valley youngsters had received the first shot in the series by the summer of 1955, the second and third shots were required to build immunity to the disease and to prevent further epidemics.

By the summer of 1955, approximately 6 ½ million children nationwide had received the first Salk vaccine shot, while over a million had received the first and second shots.  Overall, the rate of polio significantly decreased.  On August 12, 1955, the Post-Crescent reported, “the number of polio fatalities has dropped 46 per cent below last year’s level.  In the key states supplying second shots, the decline has been 63 per cent.”  Rates of incidence continued to drop as the vaccination series was completed in more and more children, and in 1956, summer was summer again for Fox Valley children.  Now even better vaccines have been developed, and polio is no longer a concern for Fox Valley families.

Click on a Primary Source Document or a Classroom Activity

Activity #1: The Polio Pledge

Activity #2: The Summer of Quarantine

Activity #3: Epidemic!

Activity #4: Prange's Delivers Fun

"Polio Pledge" from the Appleton Post-Crescent, August 19, 1955

Photograph of neighbor boys across the driveway from each other, Appleton Post-Crescent, August 6, 1955.

Newspaper article "County has six new cases for 205 total," Appleton Post-Crescent, August 23, 1955.

Advertisement for toys at Pranges Department Store, Appleton Post-Crescent, August 19, 1955.

Photograph of nurses treating a patient in a "iron lung" at St. Elizabeth Hospital, Appleton, 1955.

Newspaper article "Polio Vaccine hits 50-Year Mark," Appleton Post-Crescent, April 12, 1955.