Many New Zealanders aged over 60 years have personal stories to tell about polio. Friends in callipers and wheelchairs, family members who died. Schools and swimming pools closed and public gatherings banned as epidemics swept the county.
Polio, or poliomyelitis to give it it’s full name, is a virus that is spread from person to person, typically through contaminated water. There is no cure for polio but there are safe and highly effective vaccines to prevent the disease. The vaccines were invented in the mid-1950’s and their widespread use in our country is the reason why today, children don’t even know what polio is!
