Dissolving Illusions

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Whereas chronic carriers constitute the reservoir of S. Typhi, the maintenance of a high incidence of typhoid fever requires conditions that permit amplified transmission of S. Typhi to susceptible persons. Usually this involves fecal contamination of water sources consumed by large numbers of persons. In the later 19 th and early 20 th centuries, it was demonstrated in Europe and the United States that treatment of municipal water supplied caused the incidence of typhoid fever to plummet, despite the continued existence in the population of large numbers of carriers. Over one to two decades this led to the near-elimination of typhoid fever from many area (Levine, 2018, p. 1142). So, with further data, based on the criteria for paralysis that Greenberg used to adjust the earlier data, where he concluded the vaccine reduced the incidence of cases, with additional data, his original conclusion not only was right, but proved even more valid. How did Humphries miss this?

Polio outbreaks were smaller than the epidemics of classic scourges such as cholera and plague; but they came into their own while these time-honored killers were being seen off…The contrast between extinct threats and the new curse coming into its ascendancy appeared particularly stark from the 1930s onwards. Tried and tested public health measures were powerless to prevent polio. And this in turn made the sudden and unpredictable strike of polio, deep into the heart of homes that were now safely barricaded against other infections, all the more terrifying. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary). The primary stage classically presents with a single chancre (a firm, painless, non-itchy skin ulceration) but there may be multiple sores. In secondary syphilis a diffuse rash occurs, which frequently involves the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. There may also be sores in the mouth or vagina. In latent syphilis, which can last for years, there are few or no symptoms. In tertiary syphilis there are gummas (soft non-cancerous growths), neurological, or heart symptoms. In this paper quotes from Humphries and Bystrianyk’s book will be referenced as “(Humphries, p. __).” Note that Humphries uses extensive quotes in her book, so I will do the same. While the other diseases discussed above were on the decline, polio was on the rise. Trevelyan (2005):Surrounding hospitals were overwhelmed. “Like a tidal wave the plague swept through the Catawba River Valley,” Life magazine reported, “Youngsters with painful, useless limbs, some unable to swallow or scarcely able to breath, they came from mining villages up in the hills, mill towns in the valley, from outlying farms and urban centers.” All the gravely ill patients were also tortured by mucosal symptoms. The tongue was more or less swollen and misshapen and hindered breathing through the mouth. The voice was hoarse and faltering. Swallowing was so painful that the patients refused all nourishment and, in spite of agonizing thirst, often also refused all fluids. We saw patients with deep invasion of the respiratory passages… Wails and groans filled the rooms. The patients were conscious to their last breath ( Fenner, 1988, p. 27). Typhoid and paratyphoid fever Syphilis can be effectively treated with antibiotics ( Wikipedia. Syphilis; see also: CDC. Syphilis). Before vaccines, an average of 178,171 cases was reported in the U.S., with peaks reported every two to five years; more than 93% of reported cases occurred in children under 10 years of age. The actual incidence was likely much higher. After vaccinations were introduced in the 1940s, pertussis incidence fell dramatically to approximately 1,000 by 1976. ( Wikipedia. Whooping cough; see also: CDC. Pertussis; CDC. Pink Book. Pertussis; Edwards, 2018) The horrible “iron lung” polio cases, rather than being solved by vaccine, were also cleanly swept under the definition rug. On p. 241 of Dissolving Illusions the authors make a rare summarizing statement: “Does the public have any idea that there are hundreds of cases of something that is now called transverse myelitis that would have historically been called polio and is now leaving children permanently dependent on a modern version of the iron lung?” Polio virus continues to infect today, but like the other illnesses has become almost benign.

Total reported cases From 1951, MMWR separated paralytic and nonparalytic cases. Before 1951, MMWR included both as Total Cases.

As can clearly be seen in Table 6, only about 16% went to research and vaccine development, thus, approximately 84% to care, education, and equipment. The development of vaccines against poliomyelitis has been a major achievement of modern preventive medicine. It might seem remarkable that United States policies in regard to poliomyelitis vaccination are being reexamined in view of the extraordinary success of the present program. Recently, serious questions have been raised about the present policy that advocates the use of the live attenuated oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to the virtual exclusion of the killed, or inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine (IPV). This policy has been in effect since 1962 when the decision was made to change from the use of IPV even though paralytic disease had decreased dramatically in the eight years since its introduction [my emphasis]. deaths from asthma were 56 times greater, accidents 935 times greater, motor vehicle accidents 323 times greater, other accidents 612 times greater, and heart disease 9,560 times greater (p. 308). According to Roush the estimated annual average prevaccine from 1936-1945 was 21,053 cases and 1,822 deaths with a rapid decline following the introduction of the vaccine ( Roush, 2007). During the 1920s in the United States, 100,000–200,000 cases of diphtheria (140–150 cases per 100,000 population) and 13,000–15,000 deaths were reported each year. In 1921, a total of 206,000 cases and 15,520 deaths were reported. The number of cases gradually declined to about 19,000 in 1945 (15 per 100,000 population). A more rapid decrease began with the widespread use of diphtheria toxoid in the late 1940s ( CDC. Pink Book. Diphtheria).

But if on average 50 percent of all motor neurons are destroyed in anyone who had paralytic polio, why aren’t half of polio survivor’s muscles paralyzed? Bodian discovered that at least 60 % of spinal cord motor neurons associated with an individual muscle must be killed before the muscle shows any weakness at all. This means that muscles that were at one time paralyz Unfortunately, Humphries fails to understand that at the time Brodie conducted his study it was not known that polio consisted of three identifiable serotypes, so, the antibodies used in Brodies analysis probably recognized only one of the serotypes. In other words, many of the children who tested negative may well have had antibodies to one or both of the other serotypes. In addition, Humphries fails to understand that almost ALL studies of any specific medical area will find a range of statistics. In the case of polio, for instance, it would depend on time, place, sampling scheme, sample size for any lab estimates, and, of course, which of the serotypes exist or have existed. However, whether one needed to vaccinate 100 or even 200 to prevent one case of paralysis (Number Needed to Treat ( Wikipedia. Number needed to treat), given the significant number of paralytic cases depends on whether one considers so many paralyzed individuals acceptable or not, especially given the documented safety of the vaccines (e.g., see Greenberg above; Note this will be discussed in more detail in Part 2). Far more people harmed by polio than originally suspected Figure 2: United States Measles Reported Cases and Deaths per 100,000 Population, 1912-1959 (from Langmuir, 1962, Figure 1). Syphilis differs from the other diseases in Humphries comparison. It is the only one that depends on “intentional”, avoidable behaviors. In May 2015, the journal Science, published a report in which researchers found that the measles infection can leave a population at increased risk for mortality from other diseases for two to three years. ( Wikipedia. Measles; see also: CDC. Pink Book. Measles; Cliff, 1993; Mina, 2015; Perry, 2004; Strebel, 2018)One can actually find similar sentiments regarding polio much earlier as expressed by Ruhräh in 1917: And, as long as variola major remained in the world, anyone anywhere was at risk from the following: