Jefferson County Health Department: Stories Worth Telling

Recently, I have been thinking about how certain stories have enriched my life. Some stories have helped me develop empathy. Others have given me a base for meaningful traditions. Many have provided me with a sense of belonging or purpose. I would like to share a few of these lived experiences that have connected me to the past and helped shape my values.

Glimpses into my grandparents' lives through the stories they imparted left a lasting impression on me. My paternal grandmother grew up in a large family in the 1920s and 30s. Growing up in rural Montana in the depression suggests adversity. Even so, most of her stories were of music, dancing, and loving relationships. Rarely was tribulation the theme. She did, however, tell of walking to school in the cold of winter. The story of hardship that stands out to me was of an outbreak of a childhood illness that spread throughout her family. The outcome for her was permanent hearing loss in one ear. The significance of the story was not her disability but gratitude. Gratitude all eight siblings matured to adulthood. Many families in her generation lost children to disease.

My husband's grandmother was of the same generation. She was strong and highly independent. Vulnerability was not something she was known for. I witnessed an uncommon tenderness in her when she spoke about the tragedy of losing her second child as an infant due to illness. The outbreak claimed her sister-in-law's baby as well as others in their little town.

At an early age, I learned that graveyards tell stories. The Elkhorn cemetery nestled in our backyard tells a tale of loss and heartache. Nineteenth-century populations were not strangers to endemics. Unlike some mining towns, the silver camp of Elkhorn was a settlement of families. Many European immigrants had come to provide a better life for their offspring. Sadly, an outbreak of diphtheria claimed the lives of most children in this thriving community in the winter of 1988-1889. Countless cemeteries unveil similar accounts.

My microbiology professor knew the value of weaving storytelling in lectures. The connection he created between microorganisms and their impacts on human life endowed his students with knowledge of science and an understanding of the social implications of disease prevention.

Poliovirus was a threat during this educator's childhood. He remembered friends and neighbors affected by the disabling effects of the disease. One of his primary grade teachers walked with a crutch and a limp. There were times during the summer when the public pool and local theater were closed due to fear of spreading polio to the children who enjoyed them. He personally knew a person confined to an iron lung. His memories included fundraising through the March of Dimes and "Mother's Marches on Polio." When the polio vaccine arrived in his hometown, his parents and many others rushed to get in line at the courthouse for their children to receive their vaccinations. Protecting their children from death and disability drove their eagerness for the inoculation.

Montanans played an important role in ensuring the safety and success of the polio vaccine. The first effective polio vaccine was developed by Dr. Jonas Salk in 1952. By 1954, the vaccine was ready for a field test. At that time, the field trial of the Salk polio vaccine was the largest trial ever attempted. The trial was scheduled to take place between April and mid-June of 1954 in select counties across the nation. Four Montana counties, Gallatin, Mineral, Missoula, and Park, were selected to participate in the "biggest public health experiment ever." Many Montana parents granted their wholehearted support to the trial and the children who participated would be known as "Polio Pioneers." Perhaps you are or know a Polio Pioneer.

After the conclusion of the field trial, blood specimens collected from participants were tested for the presence of antibodies. One of the laboratories conducting the testing was Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton. The successful results of the trial were announced on April 12, 1955, the tenth anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death. FDR was afflicted with polio at the age of 39 and became an advocate for conquering polio. President Roosevelt was a founder of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, later known as the March of Dimes.

Soon after Salk's polio vaccine was licensed in 1955, children's vaccination campaigns were launched. In the United States, following a mass immunization campaign promoted by the March of Dimes, the annual number of polio cases fell from 35,000 in 1953 to 5,600 by 1957. By 1961 only 161 cases were recorded in the United States. Montana began reporting cases of infantile paralysis (polio) in 1913. The last two cases were reported in Montana in 1971.

It has been over fifty years since Montana has experienced a case of polio. During the recent health fair at Jefferson High School, Jefferson County's health officer provided an iron lung for the students to observe. As I watched their curiosity for the huge metal respirator, I felt grateful they did not know the fears and struggles associated with an outbreak of polio.

"Thanks to vaccinations, more children now survive and thrive past their fifth birthday than at any other point in history," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "This massive achievement is a credit to the collective efforts of governments, partners, scientists, healthcare workers, civil society, volunteers, and parents themselves, all pulling in the same direction of keeping children safe from deadly diseases."

Lessons from history provide insights into how to shape the stories of the future. Historical stories give us a deeper understanding of other people's experiences. They allow us to learn and apply the lessons of life to our own experiences. (Jefferson County Health Department - Pam Hanna, RN)