4 stories about Pitt’s vaccine legacy, 68 years after the first public polio shots

On Feb. 23, 1954, children at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh received the first shots of a vaccine against a deadly virus. It would take 25 years and a nationwide effort for polio to be eradicated in the U.S., but a team lead by the University of Pittsburgh’s Jonas Salk took the bold first steps.

As the world deals with the ongoing effects of another deadly virus, Pitt remains a leader in vaccine research. You’ll see some familiar themes in the four stories below, not to mention a through line between Pitt’s groundbreaking research 68 years ago and the work happening today.

First-person accounts from polio pioneers

In a 2005 Pitt Med magazine story, Senior Editor Elaine Vitone gives a glimpse into the lives of parents and students (PDF) when the polio vaccine first became available. The piece weaves together first-person accounts from a nurse and several schoolchildren who recount anxiety as the “polio pioneers” received their doses — and their celebration when the vaccine was successful. You can also listen to a Pitt Medcast episode inspired by the story.

A reporter’s story of vaccine success

John Troan was a young reporter for the now-shuttered Pittsburgh Press when he caught wind that Salk’s team was about to test the polio vaccine in humans. A 2002 Pitt Med magazine article follows Troan’s reporting on the path from Jonas Salk inoculating himself and his family to covering the success of a trial involving almost 2 million children.