Syphilis and Polio: How the US Defeated Them Essay (Critical Writing)

Syphilis and poliomyelitis were severe problems for the United States of America in the mid-20^th century. That is why many scientists and public officials did their best to protect the population from these illnesses. The attempts to cure syphilis and the campaign to wipe out polio implied both similarities and differences. Thus, the primary task of this paper is to comment on how the US managed to defeat these diseases.

To begin with, one should state that the similarities referred to the universal role of both syphilis and polio in society. As a result, curing these diseases was necessary to save the whole nation. That is why Warner and Tighe (2001) explain that it was required “to lessen the stigma” of syphilis (p. 449). Furthermore, Warner Brothers Studios released the film, Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet, about the scientist who introduced a vaccine against syphilis (Warner & Tighe, 2001). It was another step to emphasize the importance of curing the disease. In addition to that, the polio problem caused philanthropic efforts that resulted in the publicity of the illness (Warner & Tighe, 2001). As has been mentioned above, the differences were also present, and they referred to clinical trials. It relates to the fact that the development of the poliomyelitis vaccine was more ethical and did not imply scandals (National Museum of American History, n.d.).

In conclusion, American society invested much effort to cure syphilis and polio. Even though the strategies are considered successful, they implied both similarities and differences. It was a useful step to make the population understand that the diseases were their shared problem. At the same time, the difference in clinical trials denoted that the strategy to wipe out poliomyelitis was safer when it came to the health of the experiment participants.

References

National Museum of American History. (n.d.). Clinical trials. Web.

Warner, J. H., & Tighe, J. A. (2001). Major problems in the history of American medicine and public health: documents and essays. Houghton Mifflin.