As discussed in (Konstatin and Ehrenfeld 2008) these two scientists Jonas and Sabin have made tremendous contributions to the elimination of the polio virus. The contributions that they have made to the field of polio was like an opening to further researches that could enable the world to deal with viral and infectious diseases like AIDS and polio among others. The oral and injection vaccines that were invented by the scientists have been able to address the current needs of various governments in dealing with the polio virus.
First and foremost (Plotkin et al 2008) they were able to discover the real components of the polio virus which has encouraged modern scientists to research on ways that the can used to do away with the virus especially by improving on the previous methods that were invented, making eradication of polio a plan that can be realized in reality. Doctor Jonas Salk made a series of laboratory researches trying to study the polio virus, its cause and its various components. He improved his research from that which was done that involved the spinal cord of the monkeys.
First he began by studying the polio virus and its causes so that he could be able to devise ways that could be used to deal with the components of the deadly polio virus. His research led to the first successive attempt by the medical profession to deal with the infections that resulted from the polio virus (Seytre and Shaffer 2005). Salk was supported by the government of United States of America which by that time was headed by President Roosevelt who had suffered the symptoms of the polio virus and most of the citizens were dying from polio symptoms.
He used the inactive components of the polio virus in the laboratories to come up with substances that he tested in animals and human being to determine the probability of being able to cure polio infections. Salk used the inactive components because there was fear that alive virus could cause more infections instead of reducing them which could hinder the government from carrying out successive cure programs (Mohanan 2002). Through his various researches in the laboratories (Plotkin et al 2008), he developed a vaccine from the kidneys of the monkey and using formalin that was able to reduce the reactions of the polio virus in the body.
The vaccine was tested in the laboratories in the United States of America and other parts of the world where the levels of occurrence of the polio virus started to reduce because the effect of the vaccine in reducing the reactions of the virus in the body had reduced the levels of the disease spreading in the communities. . The vaccine was able do deal with all the components of the polio virus as compared to the previous vaccines that failed to make any changes in the reduction of polio infections. The vaccine was mainly given to infants in doses within the first 12 months of their life.
Boosting vaccines could be given afterwards to enhance the body immunity system to deal with any infections. Adults could also receive the vaccines especially in developing countries for those that were not able to get immunized when infants to prevent the risks of contracting the disease (Plotkin et al 2008). This kind of vaccine is being used today (Seytre and Shaffer 2005); it has been improved with other substances like Pediarix that has been widely accepted to cure other diseases like tetanus and Diphtheria.
This combination is able to influence a high level of body immunity to deal with all the serotypes of the virus and is more effective if it is given in more than one dose as each dose improves the body immunity of a person to polio disease. In cases where it is not able to boost the body immunity the oral vaccine is used to complement that function and in that way a high level of prevention is achieved. Sabin like his fellow scientist Salk (Seytre and Shaffer 2005) used the polio vaccine that Salk had invented by improving on the weaknesses that it had of not being able to kill all the components of the virus.
He came up with an oral vaccine from that he developed from a live virus; the vaccine was able to activate the antibodies in the human body to kill the disease causing microorganisms especially for the polio virus. The vaccine that was developed by Sabin was called an oral vaccine that involved using a live virus taking it through some form of cells that produce mutations to the components of the virus material. The mutation would then alter the structure of the virus making it unable to have any negative effect to the body in which it could be applied.
The vaccine worked well initially in dealing with polio infections that were present in the nervous system. With that effect the vaccine was used with the one that Salk had invented to cure the polio victims as they both complemented each other well (Seytre and Shaffer 2005). The oral injections (Hampton 2009) are given to young children within the first two years in three doses and then another one given when a child is above three years so as to activate the body immune system to deal with further infections that may come from the polio virus.
There are no other vaccines that can be given to a person after finishing the doses that are administered in the early years of a child except on special situations whereby a person will be traveling to a region that is affected by polio outbreaks as part of the traveling requirements and when a person has suffered the symptoms of polio virus. In addition to that (Mohanan 2002) for those that the polio has affected their digestion system when they take an oral vaccine the vaccine may not bring any positive effect as like the injection.
The use of the polio vaccines has greatly reduced the current occurrence of the polio infections in which we have seen some countries like the United States among other countries having no levels of infections from the polio virus. Recent developments Following the developments that were initiated by Salk and Sabin among other scientists in the study of the polio virus various researches in the medical profession have emerged in the field focusing on various aspects of the disease that will seek to address then diseases in the twenty first century.
As discussed by Maybury and Morganstein in magazine article found online, further improvements have been made to the oral vaccine that has increased the level of efficiency of the vaccine to be able to deal with all the three components of the polio virus. It is now being given in different types of doses that contain several units of antibodies that boost the body immunity. In the modern era the vaccines that the two scientists; Salk and Sabin invented are being applied in giving polio injections every month and for boosting the immune system it is given after a period of five years.
The Oral vaccine is able to enable the body to have immunity over the polio infections for a long period of time and it is affordable to most people as it involves few procedures to administer it. The point of concern in using the oral vaccine is that it is not able to work with all people because it tends to bring some negative effects to certain immune system which makes it be limited to only certain immune systems.
This is because the oral vaccine is made from an active virus that could cause more diseases to the persons around that person and the person (Mohanan 2002). As summarized above the oral vaccine and the injection have a range of the positive and negative sides of their applications but the major concern is on how they can be used to provide the level of safety that is needed in the society at an affordable cost to all the people both the rich and the people as the world tries to eliminate the levels of occurrence of the polio virus to zero.
So as to deal with the two issues of cost and safety of the vaccines, both the injection and the oral vaccines have been recommended by the medical experts to be used interchangeably as they serve the same purpose in an efficient and effective manner (Hampton 2009). Many researches are now in the process of establishing ways in which they can improve the current vaccines by applying various laboratory methods and techniques that can enable the vaccines to provide a high level of body immunity in dealing with the viruses that cause polio.
Researches have been made in the ways that can be used to carry out a quick and faster process of eliminating the polio virus and the other risks that are likely to come from this virus (Mohanan 2002). Other areas of research (Hampton 2009). have focused on the ways that can be used to make deal with the polio virus for a long period of time without it causing the agony it has caused in the past if the virus is to some extent incurable.
On the same issues there plans of finding ways which can be used to slowly and safely withdraw from the use of the vaccines that have tended to have negative effects on the human body without making the situation get out of control. Out all these researches the one that is outstanding is one that focuses on the safety of the vaccines and how they should be made affordable to people to use them.
As discussed in the article by Maybury and Morganstein, such researches have embraced the use of modern technological tools like the rapid prototyping machines in finding ways in which the genetic structure of the polio virus can be changed so as to reduce its level of activity in the body that causes the polio disease. Bacteria components that are found in the digestive system of human beings are being used to develop a cloning material that can be used to synthesis the protein components that are found in the polio virus.
The resulting substance from the combination of the bacteria components from the stomach and the polio virus can then be used to make a vaccine that will be able to eliminate completely the polio virus in the body of a person who is infected and as such stop any possibility of having the virus transmitted to other people who do not have the disease (Hampton 2009).
The modern approaches (Mohanan 2002) of dealing with the polio virus promise a success in the process of completely doing away with the virus as the contents of the anticipated vaccines have been screened in such a way that the threatening parts of the virus are not included in the virus components that are being used to make the substance that can cure polio disease. Conclusion
The road toward accomplishing zero levels of polio occurrences looks promising as technology is being embraced to come up with mechanisms that will destroy the polio virus that has caused the loss of lives in the past previous years.
References
Bernard Seytre, M. Shaffer 2005. The death of a disease: A history of eradication of poliomyelitis. Rutgers university press. Bonnie Maybury, L. Morganstein. Development of polio vaccines. National health museum magazine.
Retrieved online: http://www. accessexcellence. org/AE/AEC/CC/polio. php Konstantin Chumakov, E. Ehrenfeld. New generation of inactivated poliovirus vaccines for universal immunization after eradication of poliomyelitis. Clinical infectious diseases journal. 2008; 47, p 1587-1592. L. Hampton. The public health then and now: Albert Sabin and the coalition to eliminate polio from the Americas. American journal of public health. 2009, volume 99, 1, p34-44.