Article originally published in The Washington Daily News on November 28, 1958. Full article text provided by Newspapers.com below.
By JOHN TROAN, Scripps-Howard Science Writer
Polio now kills fewer Americans than measles. Statistics compiled by the U. S. Public Health Service showed today that measles deaths in the United States last year outnumbered polio fatalities almost two to one. The figures: Polio, 220; measles, 410.
It was the first time since 1944, when the country was swept by an unusually severe measles epidemic, that polio had been outranked as a killer by measles. In that year, measles claimed 1923 lives while polio snuffed out 1361.
Last year’s death toll for polio was the lowest on record, reflecting the effectiveness of the Salk vaccine. There is no vaccine to prevent measles — but several research teams are working on one.
Though polio’s death grip has been weakened, the disease still paralyzes thousands each year. Latest figures show 2722 Americans have been crippled by polio this year — a 36 per cent increase over the same period last year.
Public health authorities said most of these victims had failed to get the recommended three shots of Salk vaccine. So the upsurge in polio paralysis underscores the need for wider use of the vaccine, particularly among children under age 5.
How much crippling is caused by measles is unknown. But health officials pointed out that some children who get measles go on to develop encephalitis, which can produce brain damage that impairs the victim’s mentality. Measles also is suspected of triggering tuberculosis in youngsters who have been infected with the TB germ but who otherwise might not get sick from it. The vast majority of measles victims suffer no serious after effects.
On the other hand, about half of all polio cases reported so far this year involve paralysis.
