| abstract | - An ancient disease, polio was first recognized as a medical entity by Jakob Heine in 1840. In the early part of the 20th century, the United States, and much of the world, were experiencing a huge increase in the number of polio cases. In 1955 an effective vaccine was developed by the American physician Dr. Jonas Salk. Since then polio has all but vanished from developed countries as the vaccine is universally administered to babies. It has become very rare in developing countries as well. In 1985, Rotary International, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF began a major campaign to eradicate polio altogether. By 2005 they had reduced world caseloads by 99%; however, progress has since stalled. At time of this writing, about a thousand new cases of polio are reported worldwide each year. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, is generally considered the most famous polio patient in the public imagination. In 1921 he contracted a disease which eventually caused the permanent loss of the use of both his legs. The disease was diagnosed as polio at the time, though modern medical professionals sometimes question the validity of that diagnosis: Polio very rarely attacks adults, and Roosevelt was 39 when he became ill.
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