All articles tagged with #polio
A Rolling Stone report shows that global funding cuts and political shifts—most notably the U.S. withdrawal from WHO and USAID downsizing—are eroding the immunization infrastructure that helped wipe polio from much of the world, risking resurgence as vaccine-derived polio and anti-vaccine sentiment grow, despite past success like India’s eradication effort.
Polio, once near eradication thanks to a vast global vaccination effort, now faces a real comeback as funding cuts, policy shifts, and anti-vaccine sentiment erode vaccination campaigns, surveillance, and social mobilization. Outbreaks persist in several regions and vaccine-derived polio cases rise, warning that without sustained funding and a shift from oral to injectable vaccines, polio could reemerge in the U.S. and worldwide, undoing decades of progress like India’s 2014 eradication milestone.
Sen. Mitch McConnell remains in rehab after a June fall and has not yet been cleared to return to the Senate; doctors say his mobility is affected by polio in his youth, and he is undergoing daily intensive physical therapy following a mild pneumonia.
Despite huge gains in reducing wild poliovirus, funding shortfalls, political barriers, and access issues in Afghanistan and Pakistan are undermining eradication efforts. With budget cuts, waning urgency, and operational challenges (including bans on female vaccinators and disrupted US-backed infrastructure), experts doubt that current strategies will achieve eradication, prompting calls to consider alternative plans while remaining vigilant for outbreaks and vaccine-derived polio.
Paul Alexander contracted polio at six and spent more than 70 years in an iron lung, becoming the world’s longest-known survivor to rely on the device. He learned glossopharyngeal breathing to spend more time out of the machine, earned a UT Austin education and a law degree, and ran a Dallas practice with a devoted network of family and caregivers. After a 2015 replacement iron lung was found, Guinness World Records recognized him in 2023 as the longest-living iron-lung user; he died in 2024 at 78. His life illustrates polio’s history, the vaccine era, and the resilience of independence-seeking individuals with disabilities.
Martha Lillard, the last U.S. polio patient to rely on an iron lung, spent hours daily in the device yet lived a full life—driving a modified car, painting landscapes, and caring for her beagles—before dying at 78 with post-polio syndrome and chronic pulmonary failure listed on her death certificate; her sister attributes part of her death to long Covid. The piece explains how the iron lung uses negative pressure to inflate and deflate the lungs, recalls polio’s historical toll and the near-eradication of the disease after vaccination, and notes current vaccine hesitancy as a concern for public health.
Martha Lillard, the last U.S. polio patient to rely on an iron lung, died at 78 after decades of independence—driving a car, painting, and caring for beagles—highlighting polio's lasting legacy and renewed concerns about vaccine hesitancy and long COVID as potential factors in her death.
Martha Lillard, the last known U.S. polio patient dependent on an iron lung, died at 78 in Oklahoma; contracted polio at age five and spent most of her life in the device, yet she learned via tutoring and traveled with her family. Her death certificate cites chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome, highlighting both the disease’s history and the vaccine-era decline of polio in the U.S.
An Oklahoma polio survivor who was the last American to rely on an iron lung died at 78. Martha Lillard, diagnosed with polio as a child, lived with the device for breathing after paralysis, contracted COVID-19 twice during the pandemic, and died of chronic pulmonary failure linked to post-polio syndrome and long-haul COVID (death certificate notes). She had about 25% lung capacity before COVID and had recently married a man from Egypt. The story marks a historic era when polio and iron lungs were common, before polio was eliminated in the U.S. by 1979.
Martha Lillard, diagnosed with polio at age five and dependent on an iron lung for decades, died June 26 in Oklahoma at 78, becoming the last U.S. polio patient to use the device. Her death certificate lists chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome, with long-haul COVID cited as a contributing factor. Lillard led a life of adaptation and independence, learning online, forming long-distance connections, and even marrying after her husband was able to visit, before spending years mostly at home due to breathing difficulties.
Martha Lillard, diagnosed with polio as a child and dependent on an iron lung for most of her life, died at 78 in Oklahoma, becoming the last U.S. polio patient to rely on the life‑support device. A death certificate lists chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome as causes; she lived with disability from childhood, attended school with a helper, and later built a life online that led to marriage with a man from Egypt after meeting him in a chat. She battled COVID-19 in later years, and long‑haul COVID-19 is noted as a contributing factor in her decline.
Martha Lillard, who contracted polio at age 5 and spent much of her life in an iron lung, died in Shawnee, Oklahoma on June 26 at 78. She was the last U.S. polio patient to rely on the iron lung, defying doctors’ early predictions, and her sister says long-haul COVID-19 contributed to her death; the death certificate lists chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome as causes. Lillard led a mostly homebound life, but stayed connected online, even meeting her husband after years of online chats.
Martha Ann Lillard, who contracted polio in 1953 and spent decades breathing in an iron lung because modern respirators could not meet her needs, died at 78 after the machine began breaking down and could not be repaired, following a long battle with COVID/long COVID; a tornado had previously knocked out power to her device, underscoring access-to-care challenges for aging life-support equipment.
The last U.S. polio survivor who depended on an iron lung has died after his life-support machine broke down and could not be repaired, marking the end of an era in polio-era medical care and highlighting the advances in modern ventilation.
Martha Lillard, the last known American to rely on an iron lung, died in Shawnee, Oklahoma, on June 26 at age 78. Contracting polio in 1953, she spent much of her life in the device, initially using it almost full-time, then only at night as she got healthier. She faced equipment failures and a power outage during an ice storm, and died after a battle with long-haul COVID-19. Lillard was active in her community and pursued creative arts, including painting and music for the left-hand piano.