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Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,510
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Re: The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine

[ Edited ]

I had the Sabin at my elementary school and then I was vaccinated with the Salk vaccine, I think that it was the following year, so I've had both. The Sabin vaccine was a liquid in a very tiny paper cup. All the children lined up and then walked up to a nurse and drank their tiny cup of the liquid.

My dear mother in law had had polio and she recovered but in her older years she suffered from post polio syndrome. The worst. So few doctors or professionals knew anything about the syndrome and how to help her. It was awful. She also developed breast cancer which was from having had polio. When she told me this I was surprised to learn of this. I checked into this at the time and found that it was true that paralytic polio sufferers  had a some what higher risk for later breast cancers. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,936
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine

I was in the test group for the Salk vaccine, in the 50's. I don't remember if it was an injection or not, shots have never bothered me.  Don't even remember if it was a multiple dose schedule. I do rember they gave us a metal pin commemorating the event.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 37,847
Registered: ‎06-11-2011

Re: The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine

@depglass. The Salk vaccine was a shot. Sabin developed  the oral one as I say in OP.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,923
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Re: The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine


@agb80 wrote:

I remember taking a liquid in a small cup.  What surprises me is it was never common for kids to be given the TB vaccine because it wasn't rampant in the U.S. at the time but it did surface here that's a fact.  Hospital personnel have to get a TB skin test each year but I don't know what the remedy is if one should get it.  I bring this up because the news states that in developing countries the TB vaccine was a common practise for the children there and as a result they are not getting covid 19.  Scientists say there definitely is a correlation.  


@agb80 I didn't even realize there was a TB vaccine although I guess there must've been something to stop that terrible disease.  I have no idea if I got it or even if my daughter got it.  I do remember in high school apparently someone came down with it because the whole school had to be tested.  

 

Speaking of TB, I've been doing a lot of genealogy and the family I am working on in KY it was rampant.  More people died from it than from influenza.  However, I guess TB is a more progressive disease whereas influenza is acute, so they just learned had to learn to live with it.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,923
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Re: The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine


@aubnwa01 wrote:

I remember getting the shots each year & dreading them & was more than happy to eat a sugar cube to avoid getting any more of them.  My dad would take me & we'd stand in a line in a school gym waiting for them to be administered.  I lived in SoCal.

 

On a side note: I knew I'd never had mumps as a kid, but wasn't sure about measles or chicken pox.  Several years ago, there was an outbreak locally of measles & I asked my dr. if I should get an MMR shot, because the shot came out when I was nearly an adult, so I never got it.  He had my blood titered & as I knew, I had no immunity to mumps, but also none to measles, but I apparently had chicken pox.  I had scarlet fever as a kid & I guess chicken pox, but no measles when they were going around as a kid.  I went in & got the 1st MMR shot & Medicare wouldn't cover it.  They said I should've had it when I was a kid, but it wasn't available when I was a kid for me to get it. (I'm now 70)  I finally got part of the cost reimbursed by submitting it to my drug coverage & they paid for some of the vaccine's cost, but I never went back to get the 2nd shot.  When there's contagious disease in the community, you'd think Medicare (or someone) would cover protection.  My Medicare supplement wouldn't cover it either, since  they only cover what Medicare covers, which is apparently NOT childhood disease vaccines.


@aubnwa01 I did the sugar cube but only once.  I would've happily stood in line to get booster sugar cubes.  

 

I also never knew if I ever had chicken pox.  I probably had the MMR shot, but I think the chicken pox one was developed later, maybe a lot later since my daughter got chicken pox. Never had mumps.  I had Rubella in Kindergarten although I don't know how they even knew that since I don't remember there being a rash and I don't remember being sick with it.  My sister got a bad case of chicken pox, but I only developed a scab on my scalp which they were never sure of, but it was enough to keep me home from school which was all I cared about.  Ha ha.  

 

It did concern me though when my daughter got chicken pox since I thought I might get it from her.  But I didn't so I did seem to have some immunity to it.  I really wish my doctor would do a titer on me to know because if I had a natural immunity there would be no need for me to get the shingles shots.  Too late now though.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,630
Registered: ‎08-19-2014

Re: The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine

I remember being given the sugar cube by my pediatrician. DH who is 7 years older than me had polio when he was 5 years old. It was non paralytic.He spent about 2 weeks in the hospital.

Contributor
Posts: 67
Registered: ‎04-20-2011

Re: The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine

I to remember the polio sugar cube in elementary school.  I am 68 now and never had measels either.  My son was born when I was 27, and his pediatrician who was also my Dr when I was little, did the blood titer and made me take a Measles vaccine before he would let me and the baby go  home.  He said some day, my child or his friends would eventually expose me to measles, so I gladly took the shot.  I had chicken pox as a chld and 6 years ago had a severe  case of shingles, which I never even thought about.  They were awful.  My Dr now says the shingles vaccine is not guaranteed either,  so I have not had it as of  yet., but I do believe in vaccines and all children should get them and yes I would take the covid one also, to get out of these darn masks and lockdowns.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 37,847
Registered: ‎06-11-2011

Re: The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine

@annie-g The new 2-part shingles vaccine 

(Shingrex) Is much more effective than the older one (zostavox).

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 41,255
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine

i remember the sugar cube with the vaccine.

we had it when we were actually IN SCHOOL.

they just called each elementary class to the gymnasium and we were given the vaccine. this was done around the early 1970s.

sugar cubes.....dont you wish all vaccines and "shots" could be administered in this way?

********************************************
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein
Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,640
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: The Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine


@Icegoddess wrote:

@aubnwa01 wrote:

I remember getting the shots each year & dreading them & was more than happy to eat a sugar cube to avoid getting any more of them.  My dad would take me & we'd stand in a line in a school gym waiting for them to be administered.  I lived in SoCal.

 

On a side note: I knew I'd never had mumps as a kid, but wasn't sure about measles or chicken pox.  Several years ago, there was an outbreak locally of measles & I asked my dr. if I should get an MMR shot, because the shot came out when I was nearly an adult, so I never got it.  He had my blood titered & as I knew, I had no immunity to mumps, but also none to measles, but I apparently had chicken pox.  I had scarlet fever as a kid & I guess chicken pox, but no measles when they were going around as a kid.  I went in & got the 1st MMR shot & Medicare wouldn't cover it.  They said I should've had it when I was a kid, but it wasn't available when I was a kid for me to get it. (I'm now 70)  I finally got part of the cost reimbursed by submitting it to my drug coverage & they paid for some of the vaccine's cost, but I never went back to get the 2nd shot.  When there's contagious disease in the community, you'd think Medicare (or someone) would cover protection.  My Medicare supplement wouldn't cover it either, since  they only cover what Medicare covers, which is apparently NOT childhood disease vaccines.


@aubnwa01 I did the sugar cube but only once.  I would've happily stood in line to get booster sugar cubes.  

 

I also never knew if I ever had chicken pox.  I probably had the MMR shot, but I think the chicken pox one was developed later, maybe a lot later since my daughter got chicken pox. Never had mumps.  I had Rubella in Kindergarten although I don't know how they even knew that since I don't remember there being a rash and I don't remember being sick with it.  My sister got a bad case of chicken pox, but I only developed a scab on my scalp which they were never sure of, but it was enough to keep me home from school which was all I cared about.  Ha ha.  

 

It did concern me though when my daughter got chicken pox since I thought I might get it from her.  But I didn't so I did seem to have some immunity to it.  I really wish my doctor would do a titer on me to know because if I had a natural immunity there would be no need for me to get the shingles shots.  Too late now though.


I never thought about getting the MMR vax when I was younger & it probably would've been free thru my employer health coverage.  I think we thought these diseases had been eradicated in this country & were no longer a threat, but they're still a big problem in many 3rd world countries.  I never had kids, so I never had to deal with getting them their shots to attend school & possibly getting the shot for me as well.  I just kind of fell between the cracks all the way around on the MMR vax.  Luckily, I'm not around young kids too much to be exposed. 

 

I have had the shingles shot, but need to do the 2 shot Shingrex one.  It was still hard to come by the last time I checked, but I think it's more readily available these days.