Laurier researchers comparing polio epidemic to COVID-19 pandemic
A team of student researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University's Brantford campus have completed a study comparing polio to COVID-19.
Polio, a viral disease, sparked an epidemic worldwide.
“Really big outbreaks in the 30s, 40s and 50s, and it particularly targeted young people whose immune systems were not so strong,” said Tarah Brookfield, associate professor of History and Children and Youth Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University.
The research group interviewed 10 residents in Brantford ranging in age from 72 to 93.
Brantford resident Andrew Harris is one of the people who were involved in the study.
He was around six years old in the 1950s and living in Manitoba when a classmate of his didn’t come back to school for the better part of a year after being diagnosed with polio.
“When he came back, he had a severe limp as a result of the polio because of the paralysis,” Harris said.
Researchers said there are a lot of similarities between the two diseases.
“Similar to COVID, polio was asymptomatic. So approximately 70 per cent of the people who got it didn’t know they had it,” said Brookfield.
Harris said he also noticed many similar aspects after living through both crises.
“The fear, the anxiety and the reluctance. There was pushback back then too,” said Harris.
Researchers said there weren’t as many polio cases as there have been COVID-19 cases.
“Cases in the thousands, not the hundreds of thousands,” said Tyler Britz, a research student.
The polio vaccine took a long time to develop as medicine wasn't as advanced 70 years ago.
“I was part of the experimental group that got the initial needles. Those three needles, plus a booster,” Harris said, recalling being part of the test trials when he was a young boy.
When the vaccine was developed in the 1950s, many Canadian children were immunized fast.
“All kids in Brant and Brant County, they all got vaccinated on the same day,” said Britz.
Another similar aspect was the public health tactics used in both cases. Those with polio were forced to quarantine. Residents were also asked to do their due diligence and be safe around others.
“Don’t touch water, don’t drink water out of the fountain at school, don’t go in the swimming pool,” Harris said.
While fear and uncertainty plagued both the polio epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic, Harris said he is optimistic.
“It’s on its way out,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.