Is this some kind of sick joke? When Salk said Polio is rare under natural conditions, he meant the way in which people lived in the 19th century and earlier. Polio was rare then because people often drank untreated ground water and bathed rarely. This can have serious health consequences but in terms of fighting polio, those conditions were a good thing. That's because trace elements of the polio virus were in all that dirt, thus keeping people's immunity against polio strong.
Salk did NOT say polio is rare, but "severe paralytic polio." You are right that polio in its natural form is not rare, but is also no severe, some of the reasons being what you suggest and the other being the natural rate of a disease over time.
Is this some kind of sick joke? When Salk said Polio is rare under natural conditions, he meant the way in which people lived in the 19th century and earlier. Polio was rare then because people often drank untreated ground water and bathed rarely. This can have serious health consequences but in terms of fighting polio, those conditions were a good thing. That's because trace elements of the polio virus were in all that dirt, thus keeping people's immunity against polio strong.
dave4248 1 year ago
Salk did NOT say polio is rare, but "severe paralytic polio." You are right that polio in its natural form is not rare, but is also no severe, some of the reasons being what you suggest and the other being the natural rate of a disease over time.
pleromicproductions 1 year ago