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Tax Concession for People with Disabilities Buying Cars
The Tax Commissioner, Michael Carmody, has used his discretion
under the Tax Act to allow people with a disability who meet the eligibility
rules, including veterans, to replace a car GST-free as soon as it reaches 40,000
km.
Previously, those people who met the criteria to purchase
a car GST-free had to keep it for a minimum of two years to be eligible for
the tax concession.
“These changes will help people with a disability,
especially those living in rural and remote areas who travel long distances
for work or to attend city-based medical treatment and register high mileage”,
Carmody says.
Those eligible include people who hold a current disability
certificate from Health Services Australia, provided they intend to use it to
travel to or from paid work and are unable to use public transport.
Eligible disabled veterans may replace their car GST-free
once it reaches 40,000 km if they intend to use it for their personal use.
For further information about eligibility of the purchase
of a car GST-free, call the Australian Taxation Office's infoline on 13 24 78.
Living Through A Hip Replacement
Operation
David Carter
Member David Carter passes on his experiences with having a hip replacement
in the hopes they might be of help to other members considering this option.
I am now aged 60, but my hip problem started when I was a little boy
of 7. I went down with polio and was left with a right leg with no muscle strength
at all and a left leg with just enough to use.
I needed a full length, weight bearing calliper on my
right leg, but my left leg was able to take weight, although a lack of strength
in the quadriceps meant that I straightened that leg by throwing in back using
my hip and bottom muscles. I also used a walking stick.
As any older post polio would recognize, this lead to
a degeneration of the hip, and, by my mid fifties, I had the pain of an arthritic
left hip, and knew that the only answer to the pain was to have a total hip
replacement.
I also knew that, at my age, this was going to be one
of the most important events of the rest of my life, and that I needed to do
some careful planning.
I started off with a referral by my GP to that great friend
of the Post-Polio Network, Dr Pesi Katrak, a consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine,
at Prince Henry Hospital. He examined me at length, testing muscle strength
and taking a most detailed history. He then spelt out that I should prepare
myself for the inevitable operation by losing weight and taking more exercise.
He also indicated that I would need to find a rehabilitation centre to go to
after my operation.
I soon found that the one nearest to my home was Mt Wilga
Rehabilitation Centre at Hornsby, and a referral from my GP led me to one of
its rehabilitation expert with experience of Post Polio, Dr David Prendergast.
He and I looked at the times when I could conveniently fit in the operation
with my business life, and he recommended that, before the operation, I start
a period of physiotherapy and hydrotherapy, to build up the muscles in and around
my hip. He also told me that, if I did this by way of day admission to the hospital
once a week, he thought he could obtain the consent of my private hospital fund
for this treatment.
This proved to be correct, and I started a period of exercise
on land and in the pool, the like of which I had not experienced for many years.
At the same time I obtained a referral to a local orthopaedic
surgeon, selected after much enquiry and recommendation, Dr David Hale. With
all my X rays and much trepidation I went off for my first appointment. He examined
me at length, and then gave me the good news that my post polio musculature
would not prevent me from having a hip replacement. Because of the combination
of problems I presented, he asked me to see another expert for a second opinion,
and I duly visited one of the most delightful of men, Dr Stephen Ruff, who confirmed
that I was a possible candidate for such a procedure. He also confirmed that
my exercise regime at Mt Wilga was a great preparation for the road ahead.
After some months of exercise, and with the pain in my
left hip worsening, I went back to my orthopaedic surgeon to plan an appropriate
time for my operation. He explained that, after the procedure, I would need
about six weeks before I could get around, and before I could drive again, and
we decided on an operation just before Easter, so that my work would suffer
the least.
Among other places, he operated at my local private hospital, Sydney Adventist
Hospital, so he booked me in and I went off to its pre-admission clinic.
That was a most reassuring time because the hospital staff
spent a great amount of time letting me know what would happen to me before,
during and after the operation. I also saw the physiotherapist, who examined
me and explained the post operative treatment, which would be to have me up
walking from day one onwards.
I duly entered the hospital and had a titanium and porcelain
joint installed. The next day, true to their word, the physios had me up in
a walking frame. A few days later I was in the hydrotherapy pool giving my new
hip a workout.
After about a week, I was transferred to Mt Wilga Rehabilitation
Centre where I was to stay for the next three weeks. That time was spent in
physiotherapy and in the hydrotherapy bath. The occupational therapy staff took
me back home and suggested various small changes that could be made to make
sure I could cope when I returned home. We also practiced various ways I could
get in and out of my car without the risk of dislocating my new hip.
When I was finally ready to come home, I was walking slowly
but surely, using a single elbow crutch instead of my usual walking stick, the
better to take some of the weight off my left leg. The muscles in my left leg
were weaker because of lack of use but I was able to return to my business and
start the road back to pain free living.
I am told that I can expect my joint replacement to last
for my lifetime, and that the mobility of the joint and the strength of the
surrounding muscles will improve with time and exercise.
Join Us For A Day Out – Saturday 17 November
2001
We have been invited by member Sister Diadema, Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary,
to visit the home of the Sisterhood at 30 Taylor Place, Theresa Park (near Camden)
for a picnic and social get-together.
Born in the aftermath of World War II in Germany, the Evangelical Sisterhood
of Mary has grown to be an international and interdenominational community.
With their roots in the German Evangelical (Protestant) Church, they now have
Sisters from many denominations and nationalities, as well as a small brotherhood.
There are branches of the Sisterhood in various countries around the world.
A branch was established in Australia in 1979, which serves as a base for their
ministry in the South Pacific, South East Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent.
At present, there are twelve Sisters from seven different nations at Theresa
Park. In addition to celebrations at Christmas, Easter and other church holidays,
the Sisters hold Days of Fellowship about 5 times a year, and their centre is
open daily to visitors and groups.
There is plenty of parking at Theresa Park, and there are gentle pathways all
around making it very accessible for those with walking difficulties, and for
wheelchair users. You should plan to arrive for morning tea (around 10:30 am),
bring your own picnic lunch, and aim to leave about 2.30 or 3.30 pm, depending
upon whether you want to include the Sisters' 15 minute prayer time which is
at 3:00 pm each day. Sister Diadema asked me to especially welcome men to come
along – it is in no way an “all girl” event.
After morning tea Sister Diadema will take us all on a tour of her home, and
show us over the print shop, gardens, chapel, and other points of interest.
Lunch time is usually leisurely, with free time attached for wandering around
the grounds, or for further questions. Tea, coffee, boiling water, and cold
drinks will be provided by the Sisters.
Please join us for this all too rare opportunity to meet with other members
in a social setting. To help the Sisters prepare for our visit, please let Alice
know [(02) 9747 4694] before 7 November if you will be coming along. A map showing
how best to get to Theresa Park will be included with the next Newsletter.
Cultural Diversity in the Post-Polio Network
Merle Thompson
A significant feature of the community of New South
Wales is its culturally and linguistically diverse nature. In its planning session
for 2001 the Management Committee decided that one of its aims for this year
would be to assess how the Network reflects this diversity and to consider how
we can more effectively assist a broader group of polio survivors within our
community. In particular the Committee hopes to ensure that both the message
of the existence of the Network and the information and services it provides
are reaching people of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent and
people who are from a non-English speaking background.
Our initial steps in this regard include:
It is this type of assessment we need to make. There are obvious
issues such as availability of material in other languages but it is not necessary
to go to the expense of translation if the need is not there. There are other
more subtle things which could make our services not culturally appropriate
for all our actual or potential members. Language style; community attitudes
and ways of handling disability; cultural approaches to talking about oneself
and one's difficulties and attitudes to being dependent or reliant on others
are all significant. Even the way we have refreshments can be inappropriate
for some people. An obvious issue is that we always have our seminars on Saturdays
which prohibits participation for people of certain religious groups.
The Committee would welcome comments from members, in
confidence to Gillian or myself if you prefer, on any matters which you consider
relevant.
We would also welcome the assistance of members who belong
to community groups, or who speak other languages, in providing information
on their communities and how we might best reach polio survivors in your community.
Help with simple translations or contact with community newspapers, radio stations
and so on would be of assistance. You might also like to share with us the different
experience of polio in your homeland.
If you can help, please contact Gillian on (02) 9663 2402
(PO Box 888 Kensington 1465, Email: polio@fastlink.com.au) or me on (02)
4758 6637 (PO Box 38 Woodford 2778, Email: mkthom@bigpond.com).
Keeping Post-Polio Syndrome on the Political Agenda
Although we may not have achieved our goal of
having further debate in Federal Parliament on post-polio syndrome, Network
members nevertheless did much over the last several months to raise politicians'
awareness of the late effects of polio, and of their impact on our lives. The
Committee is very grateful to all members who took the time and trouble to ring,
write to or visit their local members. On 1 May members of the Committee met
with Jenny Macklin, Federal Shadow Minister for Health, and discussed a range
of issues of interest to Network members. In May we also received the following
letter from the Federal Minister for Health Care and Ageing, The Hon Dr Michael
Wooldridge, in response to our representations.
Dear Ms Thomas
Thank you for your letter of 31 December 2000 concerning
the needs of people affected by Post Polio Syndrome and requesting support for
the Post Polio Network. I sincerely apologise for the delay in responding.
I have noted your requests for support of the polio networks
in each State, the need for assessment clinics, the need to educate health professionals
on Post Polio Syndrome and the fact that many polio survivors have had to retire
early due to their polio-related difficulties.
Some of your requests fall into the category of being
disability issues rather than a vaccine preventable disease issue, even though
the original cause was an infectious disease. I have referred the matter of
support for people affected by Post Polio Syndrome to my colleague Senator the
Hon A.E. Vanstone. Her Department of Family and Community Services includes
a Branch which addresses the problems faced by people with disabilities, particularly
in the area of support funding.
You express the concern that many general practitioners and other health professionals
lack expertise in recognising and treating Post Polio Syndrome. As part of the
implementation of its Enhanced Primary Care initiatives, the Commonwealth Government
has supported activities aimed at increasing the awareness among general practitioners
of the importance of community support organisations in the management of patients
with specific chronic conditions. I anticipate that this will create a climate
of improved acceptance by the medical profession of organisations such as the
Post Polio Network. You also requested special assessment clinics to assess
and assist people affected by Post Polio Syndrome. Under the Health Care Agreements,
responsibility for the provision of specialist health services such as these
lies with each State and Territory government.
You may also like to note that in 1997, the Government
introduced the Immunise Australia Program - Seven Point Plan. The Immunise Australia
Program is a joint Commonwealth and State/Territory initiative and includes,
among other strategies, the provision of free vaccines to all providers. One
of the major outcomes from the Immunise Australia Program has been to increase
vaccination coverage rates from 53% in 1997 to greater than 90% in the year
2000. Recently you joined me for the announcement that immunisation rates for
infants at 12 months of age had reached 91.3%. This is very reassuring for the
hundreds of dedicated persons who have been working diligently at this task
for the past five years.
This success underlines the importance of sustaining high
childhood immunisation rates and dispelling any feelings of complacency. Another
success attained in October 2000 was the declaration by the World Health Organisation
(WHO) of Australia (as part of the Western Pacific Region) being “polio
free”, that is, free from the transmission of wild poliovirus. While this
is great news in the world of communicable diseases, it is distressing to find
that people who have suffered and survived the polio epidemics of the forties
and fifties are now succumbing to the symptoms of polio again, under the name
of “post polio syndrome”.
Thank you for raising these issues with me and I will
follow with interest the progress of support for Post Polio Syndrome groups.
We were pleased that Dr Wooldridge appreciates
the problems that polio survivors are now facing. I would like to be able to
report that we subsequently received a positive response from Senator Vanstone
but, alas, we have had no response at all! Similarly, our representations to
the NSW Health Minister, the Hon Craig Knowles, resulted in a curt reply that
he was unable to find any time to meet with us; he failed to address, or even
acknowledge, any of the substantive issues we raised. In the International Year
of Volunteers the Committee finds the lack of meaningful response from both
levels of Government extremely disappointing, and will continue to press for
positive outcomes.
Network Members in the News
|
Maree Dent
 |
Maureen Donnelly
|
| Member Maree Dent, Bellingen, contracted polio at 6 months old and was left with weakness on her right side and in both legs. At the age of 11, Maree developed epilepsy and her disabilities forced her to stop conventional schooling in year six. Her life continued as a litany of denied opportunities and institutionalisation. But Maree's strong spirit is now winning through. She lives by her affirmation “I refuse to give up, no matter how hard the going gets!”. Maree grew up in rural NSW, where she learned to love the Australian bush. Her passion for the environment lead her to enrol as a mature-aged student in Landcare and Environment Studies at Open Training and Education Network – Distance Education, to gain a fuller understanding of nature and environmental issues. In recognition of her progress in this course, despite her multiple disabilities, Maree recently had the thrill of travelling to Sydney to receive a NSW Disability Council Achievement Award. Despite now experiencing the late effects of polio, Maree continues to work hard to achieve her goals. She writes “I am a person who has to be kept occupied, always anxious of learning. Next year I'm going to continue doing my School Certificate.” Well done, Maree! | Following decades of voluntary work on committees in secretary and treasurer positions, Member Maureen Donnelly, Cessnock, was honoured with a Premier's Seniors Achievement Award in 2000. Along with 10 others from across the State, Maureen accepted the prestigious award from Premier Bob Carr at a ceremonial lunch in Sydney. Maureen contracted polio in 1948 and spent the next two years in various hospitals around Newcastle. Her community work covers a range of interests from the Cessnock Dog Club, where she is the chief instructor, to the Art Society to the Lower Hunter Temporary Care at Kurri, a respite service covering Cessnock, Maitland to Port Stephens. Five years ago Maureen pushed to set up an Access Committee within Cessnock Council to lobby and advise Council on issues of access in public spaces, which Maureen believes has been pretty successful. Out of interest and as an aid in her various committee roles, Maureen has completed two-and-a-half years of Information Technology courses at TAFE and built a web site for the Lower Hunter Temporary Care service. It is easy to see why Maureen thoroughly deserved a Premier's Seniors Achievement Award and we give her our congratulations. |
| For some time now, bowlers with disabilities have enjoyed a social outing and exercise at the Toukley RSL Bowling Club on the fourth Friday of each month (February to November). Member Brian Nash (pictured at right in full swing) is trying to build up numbers and encourages other members to join the group. Bowls uniforms are not necessary, but correct footwear must be worn. Lunch is provided at the Club for $3.00. Limited transport is available. Brian reports that the Toukley Club has gone to a lot of trouble to provide special wheelchairs (such as that pictured) for those who need them. For more information, please contact Brian on 0412 204 945. | 
|
|
While we are on the subject of lawn bowls, we were thrilled recently to learn that members Bill Bradley and Jim Newton were each winners in their respective singles divisions at the Australian 2000 NSW Open State Wheelchair Lawn Bowls Championship held in November 2000. They are pictured at left proudly showing off their magnificent trophies. Past Network Treasurer, Marianne Newton, also had a successful competition, coming third in the Ladies Pairs. |
A Tribute to My Mother
Member Winsome Sutton from Port Macquarie recently
sent her fascinating polio story. She writes: I am enclosing a short story about
my very caring Mother which I thought might be of interest. Having two daughters
who contracted polio must have been a great sorrow to her. I might add we were
both isolated cases as there were no epidemics that my family was aware of,
at either time.
In 1909 when my sister was six months old, she was diagnosed
with infantile paralysis. Mother took her to Newcastle from the country from
time to time for adjustment for her calliper and any treatment available.
When I was 2½ years old and my sister was 15 by then,
I too was diagnosed as having infantile paralysis so I was taken to the specialists
in Newcastle who gained their knowledge of treatment (very sparse) from U.K.
In 1925 our maternal grandfather told Mother of the remarkable improvement to
one of his students who had undergone surgery for his paralysis by Dr Max Hertz,
so off we went to see him in Sydney. Dr Hertz performed two operations on my
sister's left leg which enabled her to discard her calliper and to wear shoes,
one of which was designed and especially made for her smaller foot. She was
able to lead a very active life and I remember walked a lot and it was hard
to keep pace with her when she was in a hurry!
Dr Hertz advised Mother how to massage my ankle and suggested
she take me take to him after a year of massage. I can still remember going
to sleep every night while my wonderful Mother massaged my ankle. Alas, after
a year my ankle was still very weak and Dr Hertz performed an operation transplanting
the muscle from my big toe into my ankle. I was in plaster for some weeks. The
operation proved very successful although over the years Mother continued to
have orthotics made for me and later it was found that building up the outer
side of my right shoe with a slither of leather was even more satisfactory.
During my younger years I played tennis vigorously and
did a great deal of bush walking. Both my sister and I had interesting business
lives in accountancy and many times were thankful for our Mother's loving care
and Dr Hertz' brilliance.
My sister died when she was 64 after a successful of coronary
occlusions. For about 8 years prior to her death I noticed her leg became very
weak and some days gave her a great deal of pain and I can now recognise the
onset of post-polio syndrome but it was not known then.
My own pps has been troubling me for the last 6 years
and quite by accident the syndrome was acknowledged and I was helped thank goodness.
Previously we were told it was old age.
I have become a Tai Chi enthusiast in the last 9 months
and through these gentle exercises I am coping much better.
For Sale
Second-hand electric wheelchair in excellent condition.
The hand controls can be mounted for either left- or right-hand use. The wheelchair
can be taken apart for transportation in a car. It comes with new batteries
and a tyre pump. This wheelchair is being made available to Network members
at a special price of only $1,500. Please ring Lyn on (02) 4368 2826 for further
details.
Polio Particles
Mary Westbrook
Polio Particles is compiled by Mary Westbrook as
items in the press or professional journals catch her eye. Included in this
series are brief reviews of books on polio or post-polio, updates on post-polio
research, information about immunisation and the status of global polio eradication,
and other items of interest. Mary's series is now being syndicated around the
world as other post-polio newsletter editors pick up on the interesting items
Mary includes.
Type 2 poliovirus eradicated
On March 29 Associated Press reported: One of the three strains of polio
has apparently been wiped out – a milestone in the global effort to eradicate
the paralyzing disease. The World Health Organization said on Thursday that
the global network of laboratories that tracks the disease reported no new cases
of Type 2 polio in 2000. The last recorded cases were in India in 1999.
There are three main types of the polio virus. Originally they were named after
the patients in whom they were first isolated — Brunhilde, Lansing and
Leon. Then they became known as Types 1, 2 and 3. Type 1 is the virus most frequently
isolated in cases of paralytic polio and Type 2 the least commonly found in
such patients. Infection from one type does not confer protection against the
other two types.
Being a person with an eradicated disease
Polio survivors experience mixed emotions when they
hear talk about the eradication of polio, particularly from justifiably satisfied
public health officials. We have survived polio but we still have to cope with
its effects on a daily basis. I recently read a book, “Sorting Things
Out” (by Geoffrey Bowker and Susan Star) which discusses medical classifications
of illnesses and consequences of their applications. When the authors talk about
the issue of time and disease they give the example of polio. In September
1994 the World Health Organisation sent out a world-wide press release about
the eradication of polio from the planet. A year earlier sociologist Fred Davis,
who suffered polio in his youth, and was one of the most eloquent analysts of
uncertainty in illness died of a stroke at the age of 65. Was polio eradicated
for him? Was this stroke in part the legacy of his earlier illness? Many of
those who had polio in the 1940s and 1950s are now beginning to lose their ability
to walk as their overburdened spinal cells, designed for backup purposes, are
wearing out after years of tough therapy and rehabilitation. Is the disease
thus eradicated or delayed? In the lives of these patients, the answer is not
so clear. I sometimes wonder if it would be more accurate to say “I
have polio” rather than that “I had polio” so I was interested
to read a comment by Professor Sharrad who began researching polio at the time
of the epidemics. Sharrad was quoted in the February LincPin (Newsletter of
the Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network) replying to a question about late effects
of polio: What you are describing is polio fullstop. It does not go away,
you did not HAD it. You have it. Polio has the most remarkable recovery system
and that is what you have lived with and without which you would have remained
at your worst. You are just describing what we knew could happen to you in
your later years. It's just polio.
“Passage through Crisis” – a polio classic
Among the books written by Fred Davis, mentioned above,
was “Passage through Crisis: Polio Victims and Their Families”.
It was published in 1963, was last reprinted in 1991 and is still around in
libraries. Davis studied the impact of polio on 14 American children and their
families in 1954-55, just prior to the introduction of the Salk vaccine. The
families were interviewed at regular intervals beginning in the week of the
child's admission to
hospital and continuing until 15 months after discharge from hospital. One of
Davis' most striking findings was that although obvious and abrupt changes occurred
in the families over the two years of the study (eg the changes in the sick
children's interactions with their siblings, the negative reactions to the children's
handicaps by their peers) each time parents were asked whether anything seemed
changed, whether anyone in the family felt or acted differently toward the handicapped
child, whether the child acted or felt differently about himself almost invariably
… the answer would come back that nothing had changed. Maintaining
a sense of sameness and stability in their lives helped families survive the
crisis Davis believed. He found that there were two main ways in which families
did this. One strategy was denying that their child's disability had any social
significance. Parents would make light of the disability, explain it away, and
insist that others regard their child as normal. An example was Laura's mother.
Laura had callipers, a pelvic band, and used crutches. Immediately she left
hospital her mother re-enrolled her at her old school and insisted that no special
arrangements be made although help was essential. The pretence of normality
required enormous effort on Laura's part and resulted in upsetting experiences,
as she could not manage public transport. The other less common strategy was
insulating themselves from contacts and situations that would force them to
admit that they themselves, and others, regarded their child as disabled. An
example was Marvin's mother who discouraged him from joining groups or making
friends with disabled or able-bodied children. Marvin's shame led him remove
his brace with her tacit approval resulting in a fracture. Although Davis acknowledged
the callous, depersonalized and deadeningly routine treatment meted out in
hospital he did not believe the changes that we have seen in the care of
hospitalised children over recent decades were possible.
Bradman hailed for polio cure
This headline appeared in the News section of Cricketline.com
after Bradman's death. I knew that the Don walked on water but curing polio
was news indeed! Chris Salter of the Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network who sent
me the item commented that it was a contender for the most overstated and
inappropriate headline of the year. According to the article Kim
Beazley claimed Bradman helped cure him of polio by mailing Kim's father a set
of exercises. Beazley said, As I used to sit down scrunching up towels between
my toes Mother would say to me: “Well, Don Bradman says you have got to
do this so you better do it.” I can't say I liked the exercises, but they
were help. The Sun-Herald reported that Bradman's son John contracted polio
when he was 12 in 1951. He spent the best part of a year in a steel frame
and underwent daily therapy. During this dark and worrying period for the Bradmans,
John's recovery was never certain. However after a courageous fight, he overcame
the illness and became a champion athlete (hurdler). But for a knee injury
he could well have represented Australia in the 1956 Olympic Games. Perhaps
the list of exercises that Bradman passed on were those given to John by his
physiotherapist.
Wheeling tortoise
The March issue of Link, the Australian magazine
that examines disability issues, reported the story of Doris a 50-year-old paraplegic
tortoise. She has weak rear legs due to a degenerative disease. Her vet glued
a plastic base to the underside of Doris' shell and fixed wheels to this base.
The vet said this helped the tortoise achieve a better quality of life but
warned that this treatment can only be carried out by specialists
highly trained in tortoise diseases. I would strongly advise people not to try
this at home.
Are you a sleepwheeler?
This story was recently told to me by a British GP:
I received the following request for a home visit yesterday: 'Request visit.
Cannot get to surgery. She is in a wheelchair. Keeps sleepwalking'. Curious,
I phoned the patient who confirmed that she couldn't walk. I asked how she then
managed to walk in her sleep. She replied that she 'sleepwalks' in her wheelchair.
The doctor wants to know if I'd heard of any similar sleepwheeling experiences.
Changing views of Salk and his vaccine
Which one of these words best describes Jonas
Salk: a) altruist, b) pure scientist, c) chump, or d) all of the
above? asked Ellen Goldman in the Boston Globe (1/3/01) in an article
titled “Scientists Now Go For Gold”. She continued: The
man who discovered the polio vaccine never made a penny from it. When asked
who owned the vaccine, Salk answered, “the people” …. What would
have happened if he'd begun his research today? Would the funders and the institutions
have preferred that he apply his genius to a cure for baldness or impotence
rather than polio? Would the scientist himself have held out for a piece of
the vaccine action? In 1990 Jane Smith wrote a book on the discovery of
the Salk vaccine. Its title, “Patenting the Sun”, came from
a comment by Salk on TV the night it was announced that his vaccine was safe.
When the reporter asked who owned the patent, Salk replied, Well the people
I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun? In fact lawyers
had advised the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis who funded the development
of the vaccine from donations, that no patent was possible since neither the
processes nor the materials used in the vaccine were new. Of course they were
put together in a novel way to create the vaccine. Salk never received the Nobel
Prize largely because of the opposition of scientists such as Sabin who dismissed
his work as unoriginal. Smith quotes Sabin as saying that there was NO evidence
to say that it (polio) was conquered (by Salk vaccine), and it
was NO breakthrough … There was no new science in that vaccine. There was
a hell of a lot of new science in the oral (Sabin) vaccine.
In 1990 when Smith wrote her book the Sabin vaccine was
considered better than the Salk vaccine which had hardly been used in the USA
or most countries for 25 years. However over these years some countries such
as the Netherlands continued exclusive use of Salk vaccine and began manufacturing
the vaccine themselves. The Dutch improved the Salk vaccine so that it provided
full protection with two doses. They combined the Salk in a vaccine with diphtheria,
whooping cough and tetanus. Then the US had a turnabout when its Advisory Committee
for Immunization recommended that from January 2000 US children be immunised
by the Salk vaccine. The tiny risk of contracting vaccine–induced polio
from the Sabin vaccine was causing more concern as global eradication approached.
As mentioned in earlier Newsletters there are also worries that the live
mild virus in the Sabin vaccine can mutate and spread among unvaccinated groups.
(My information is from an article in Science by Blume and Geesink 2/6/00.)
On March 2001 Reuters reported that the giant drug company
GlaxoSmithKline had asked the US government to approve a combined vaccine for
infants that would give protection against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough,
hepatitis B and polio. Three shots would be needed. The company currently markets
a vaccine targeting the first four illnesses. However the US Food and Drug Administration
voted against the vaccine (six members were against, five for and one abstained).
Their biggest worry concerned the higher rate of fever reactions in babies who
received the 5 compared to the 4 disease combined immunisation currently in
use (which does not include polio). More discussions and clinical trials of
the vaccine will take place. Public health officials believe the less complicated
vaccination schedule of the 5-in-one vaccine will result in fuller immunisation
in the community and it looks only a matter of time till a combination immunisation
is adopted in the US, and in due course probably in Australia.
Cases of undiagnosed polio
Dr Marcia Falconer talks about undiagnosed cases of polio
in her article in this Newsletter. An interesting example was Dame Ninette
de Valois, ballerina, choreographer, ballet company director and teacher who
died in March aged 102. The New York Times obituary caught my attention with
its comment that: Later in life a medical examination revealed
that she had survived childhood polio without the disease being diagnosed at
the time. Searching for more information I found in the BBC obituary that
de Valois was a leading dancer in London before joining Diaghilev's Ballet
Russe in 1923 … She gave up dancing while still young after discovering
she had been suffering for years from polio.
Marianne Weiss, a physiotherapist from Ohio, spoke at
the GINI post-polio conference that I attended in St Louis in 1994. She said
that she not infrequently encounters patients who do not have a history of polio
but who have symptoms suggesting that in the past they had minimal cases of
polio that went undetected. Examples of such symptoms included underdeveloped
muscles, sometimes blatant asymmetry of muscle development, mild scoliosis,
a history of being good at sport and suddenly without known reason declining
in performance, and poor breathing capacity in the absence of known lung dysfunction.
Weiss said that frequently these people had been given a diagnosis of fibromyalgia
because of the significant tenderness of their muscles. She said, I worry
that no other diagnosis fits these people, and that indeed they may be suffering
the late effects of polio as surely as known polio survivors do.
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In Nyngan, where I taught in the late 1960s, I was made very welcome by Convener Marion Wardman, who took me for morning tea to the local museum which is housed in the old railway station building. Marion also organized a visit to the local newspaper, the Nyngan Observer, and this photo of us (with Marion wearing her colourful Network T-shirt) appeared in their 14 March edition. The editor included a short article encouraging polio survivors in the region to get in touch with Marion. |