Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D10217-7
Date(s)
- 1940-09 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
In the 1940s, poliomyelitis was very active in Tacoma. The disease attacks children and young people, sometimes resulting in paralysis. One of the treatments was physical therapy, stretching and exercising the atrophied muscles. Other muscles were also trained to perform some of the tasks of the paralyzed muscles. Before the development of the polio vaccine, poliomyelitis was the most dreaded disease to affect children and young people. In the summer of 1940, while polio was active in Tacoma, all pools and fresh water swimming holes were closed. All youth groups closed their day and overnight camps and parents kept their children inside in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease.
Poliomyelitis--Tacoma; Sick children; Pierce County Hospital (Tacoma);