The new school year started this week. Imagine how relieved you’d be if you kept your kids inside the house all summer long because you were afraid they would catch a debilitating disease if they went out. Before there was a vaccine for it, parents in the United States lived in fear of polio. They would keep their kids from going anywhere where there were crowds: no going to the movies, to the pool, or even to school, camp, or other activities. But even with these precautions, polio spread throughout the country, killing thousands of people each year.

Jonas Salk to the rescue

In 1955, Jonas Salk invented a vaccine for polio. Not only did he save untold thousands of lives, but he refused to patent it or profit from the vaccine. When asked who owned the patent to the vaccine, he replied, “Well, the people. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?” He wanted the vaccine to be used entirely for the good of humanity.

If you have kids, you probably let them go out of the house this summer – to the pool, to a summer job, camps or activities, or just to hang out with their friends. You can thank the polio vaccine for that: this disease has been eliminated from the US since 1979.

Let’s keep it that way

You may have heard that the school immunization requirements have changed this year. The changes include strengthening kids’ protection from polio – to make sure the disease can’t spread from somebody who picks it up overseas.

The school immunization requirements protect kids from 10 different diseases, and all school children need to be up-to-date on their vaccinations to attend school this year. If you haven’t yet, make a doctor’s appointment for your child so the doctor can review their immunization history – or, if you don’t have a doctor, you can go to a City Health Center.

Let’s work together to keep our kids safe, and keep them in school – this year, and every year.