Alyssa

Jonas Salk I was excieded when Mrs. Kenkel gave us our assinment, but I didn't know who to do it on. As I was looking through __50 great American heros__, //I saw the name Jonas Salk. I didn't know who he was, or what he did. I reserched Jonas Salk and I knew he was the one that touched many lives. Now I will tell why.....// //Has anyone// //in your family had __polio__? If your answer is yes, Jonas Salk is one of your heroes. If your answer Is no, he is still one of your heros because of the polio vaccine. Maybe one of your grandperants had __polio.__ Without Jonas Salk, you might not be here today. This Miracle was born October 28,1914, 121 years after __polio__ was discovered, in 1835. He went to school just as we do, and decided __he__ could help the world and make it better. __He__ could improve the flu vaccine. When he was working on the flu vaccination, he accidentally stumbled on the __polio vaccine__ in 1952. This accident is probably one of the best accidents in history, one of the best accidents of our lives.

Now, __polio__ is a horrible, horrible disease, and it is very contagous.The __polio__ __virus__ enters through the mouth, usually from touching your face. __Polio__ will kill or cripple children, elders, or people with bad immune systems. If you got polio at thi s age you would die, or hopefully be crippled. Polio usually happens in the summer.becauseof the heat. Polio happened to a lot people including imortant people in our history like President Franklin D. Roosevelt. President Roosevelt.was a strong man, but he was crippled, fevers over 102'* had legs parlized,even constapated. In 1952, 57,628 cases of polio were recorded. Jonas Salk was desribed as a cheater by doctors who said that he just applied what the doctors had already discovered. In 1955 the vaccine was declared safe. Sadly, only a few thousand got the vaccine because they didn't think it would work. Later in life, between 1955-1965, it was required to get the vaccine.

The hero, Jonas Salk, spent the rest of his life helping the world, being a doctor, giving the cure of polio to those in need. Jonas Salk has helped over a million people! Let me put it this way, he helped all of America, plus other countries around the world. Jonas Salk gave us one less thing to worry about,one more thing to be glad about. Jonas Salk didn't just touch many lives, but he SAVED many lives!

--- Alyssa Ladd//