Women as Societies Change Agents During the 1950s Polio Epidemic Essa

The 1950s represented the cold war era, symbolized by the vehement scar, anti-communism, potential atomic war, and McCarthyism. Patriotic loyalty was stressed, any citizen who spoke surface against the US government policies was labeled a communist and was often relentless listed and put under surveillance. The sensationalized conviction and execution of the Rosenbergs for spying, jeopardized our countries national security and reinforced anti-communism propaganda. Moreover, students practiced emergency ducking under their desk drills to prepare for a nuclear fallout and families purchased bomb shelter for protection. The hyper-vigilance, business organization, paranoia, and post traumatic stress that permeated our countrys grace of being under siege, intensified with the polio epidemic. Verbally expressing the word polio brings forth anxiety, trepidation, and thoughts of mortality, crippled bodies, and iron lungs. Once the initial shock wears dour that you-- in fact, be ar the disease than the fight for your life begins. This highly transmissible illness was passed by close contact and through fecal matter, patronage improved sanitation practices. Unfortunately, many poor and middle class families contract this viral disease, which rapidly destroyed motor-neurons to arms, legs, and diaphragm muscles. Ironically,improved sanitation practices were blamed for this detain childhood disease. Younger breastfeeding children received maternal antibodies whereas older children did not have this similar immune advantage. Sadly, children under fifteen years old, experienced the highest evaluate of contracting this malady. Adults also experienced severe poliomyelitis complications rendering them heart care or requiring the iron lung to perform their br... ...ine, restricting community activities, disapprove mingling among all socioeconomic classes at the pools, theaters, and camps, good hygiene, sanitation practices and trenchant handwashing te chniques.Works CitedBIBLOGRAPHY1. Naomi Rogers, Dirt and Disease Polio before FDR (New Brunswick, N.J. Rutgers University Press, 1992). 2. Wilson, D.J. A cripple Fear Experiencing Polio in the Era of FDR Bulletin of the History of medicinal drug 72.3 (1998) 464-495. 3. Oshinsky, D. M. Polio An American Story oxford university press (2005) 350 4. Foertsch, J. Bracing accounts, the literature and kitchen-gardening of polio in postwar america. Associated university press (2008) 223. 5. Bocker, A. and Brandt, V. Living in fearnortheast wisconsins polio epidemics. Voyager Winter/Spring (2007) 10-25.