he arrives with the head of the national foundation for infantile paralysis. reds of reporters and scientists from all over the nation gather for the announcement. proudly on hand are the people who received the first injections. the chief and value order pronounces the vaccine test up to 90% effective. >> this gigantic experiment is symbolic of the equally great foundation, both scientific and philanthropic, without which it could not have been conceived or executed. >> the entire world heralded the discovery, which is assuring an end to one of the most dreadful diseases. susan: that is in april, 1955 transit announcement of the successful polio vaccine. -- triumphant announcement of the successful polio vaccine. dr. elena conis, you suggest there are some cautionary notes when you look at the history of the polio vaccine that are relevant to today. what are the largest concerns? elena: it is a really good question. i think the history of polio has a lot of lessons. the history of a number of pandemic diseases have a lot for us to keep in mind. over the last f

he got a knock on the door from the national foundation for infantile paralysis, would you be willingrticipate in a typing programme to determine how many different immunological types of polio virus there are? my father leapt at the opportunity. this would be drudgery, in terms of the kind of work that was done, but it was an opportunity of creating a vaccine against polio. the worst year was 1952. there were 58,000 cases of polio. nobody would ever know when was the epidemic and to come? when was it going to strike? this disease caused a huge amount of fear. there was a lot of pressure. every year there were these devastating epidemics. first there were the studies that were done in animals in the lavatory — the labratory. that all printed in the right direction. then my father undertook some preliminary tests in children who were at a home for crippled children outside of pittsburgh. these were kids who had already been affected by polio. the early studies had gotten far enough that he knew that this vaccine was going to work. the day that he came home from his office bearing syrin