1949 POLIO EPIDEMIC

It was summertime 1949, and the living was easy in Cape Girardeau.

But, two big events of that year still provide some vivid memories -- the tornado in May, which left death and destruction in its wake, and a polio epidemic that spread throughout the city, state and nation in July.

The tornado lasted only a few minutes, but cut a three-block swathe through a portion of the city, leaving 22 dead and 72 hospitalized and millions of dollars in damage.

Hundreds more were injured, treated and released. A total of 202 houses were leveled, 231 more homes were damaged and 33 businesses were destroyed or damaged.

The outbreak of infantile paralysis (polio) lasted longer.

The first signs of the approaching polio epidemic in Southeast Missouri were seen in Cape Girardeau County on July 1, 1949, when two cases were reported -- one in Cape Girardeau, the other in Jackson.

By the end of the month the crippling, sometimes fatal disease, had spread throughout the area, to more than 100 cases.

The epidemic continued, with 50 more victims in August, and by the end of the year, almost 200 cases were reported in Cape County. Six died. Pemiscot County reported 76 cases of polio. New Madrid County reported 24 cases and Dunklin County, 23 cases. Scott County reported 19 cases. Mississippi County reported one.

In Missouri, a total of 1,327 cases were reported in 1949, ending in death for nearly one of every 10 who had contacted the disease (127 deaths statewide).

A special wing of St. Francis Hospital, then located along Good Hope Street, from Pacific to Ellis Streets, was made available for treatment of poliomyelitis cases. Memphis and St. Louis hospitals were closed to out-of-city polio patients. Before the year was over, St. Francis admitted 180 people with polio. Records show that six of the patients died.

Until 1949, polio was little seen and/or diagnosed in Southeast Missouri. Occasional cases were sent to isolation centers in St. Louis. A few cases were reported in 1946, but not enough to constitute an epidemic. In 1949, that changed. By July, the hospitals of St. Louis, Mo., E. St. Louis, Ill., and Memphis, Tenn. refused to take any more out-of-town polio patients.

An iron-lung, a respirator device used to treat paralysis of the muscles and organs of breathing, was dispatched to St. Francis Hospital, and six rooms of a special wing was opened for polio treatment.

The hospital eventually had eight iron lungs and a 425-gallon Hubbard Tank.

The polio epidemic continued through 1962. In 1951, 75 polio victims were admitted at St. Francis...seven died. A year later, 85 patients were admitted... eight died. During a 15-year period -- 1949 through 1962 -- a total of 649 residents were placed in the polio treatment center in St. Francis Hospital. Deaths totaled 29.

Parents throughout the area were fearful if their children complained of achy legs and stiff necks, early signs of polio. Swimming pools were closed. Many parents kept their children inside.

Then a vaccine, discovered by Dr. Jonas Edwards Salk was pronounced successful.

Salk, an American research Scientist, developed a trial polio vaccine in 1953. It was given to more than 1.8 million school children in 1954.

The announcement that the vaccine -- given by injection -- "worked," came on April 12, 1955, on the 10th anniversary of the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, himself a victim of the disease.

Within days, shipments of the vaccine were on the way to communities throughout the country. Plans were made for massive inoculations.

The first shipment arrived in Cape Girardeau by plane on April 15, 1955 with enough vaccine to administer to 45 persons. A week later, another batch arrived, with enough to innoculate 80 people. By May 1, more than 1,500 children had been given the Salk vaccine.

Another vaccine for polio was developed by Dr. Albert Sabin in 1961. This one was an oral vaccine, which help make it possible to wipe out one of humanity's most disabling diseases.

The last polio victim in Southeast Missouri was reported in 1962 and St. Francis shut down its polio treatment wing.

Polio had been conquered in Southeast Missouri.