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Thursday, September 16, 2010

Blog #6 American Icons


Viral Warfare
By Tomas Pena

You have just been admitted to the hospital, sick with a massive fever and pain all over; you are infected with the Ebola Virus. There is no vaccine for Ebola, and the survival rate of Ebola is very slim; with a 90% mortality rate, almost all of the infected patients perish by massive hemoraging (a very painful internal bleeding out of every orifice of your body). Thanks to the “The Hot Zone”, by Richard Preston, I learned about the lethality of viruses. One of my thoughts after finishing the book was, “What would the world be like if we didn’t have people who risked their lives and rose above the occasion to fight these diseases?” I talked with my father about the book and how crazy viruses are, and since he is an anesthesiologist, he had learned about some deadly illnesses in his line of work. My father mentioned about the man who created the Polio vaccine—Jonas Salk. Around Jonas’ time, polio plagued America with the crippiling side effects that it inflicted, including paralysis and even death. Like Ebola now, Polio back then did not have a vaccine.

I read more on Jonas; he came from a Russian-Jewish immigrant family. His parents hoped the best for their children when they came to America. There are many professions out there, and Jonas could’ve easily chosen any career to pursue. Luckily, in the era where the polio virus was rampant, this man rose into the medical field. He worked hard in school, and began his career in medical research. Jonas later created the vaccine, the closest thing possible to a cure, for polio. The fact that this one person was able to create the vaccine for polio out of so many professionals and doctors doing the same research… is simply astonishing! Salk’s very own achievements fuel my dreams and imagination for the possibility of becoming a medical hero. People wonder when the cure for cancer will be discovered and who would be the person to discover the cure. What some people don’t know is that many developments lead to such an achievement. It just so happens that without everyone working together on medical research, many cures wouldn’t have been found. I have hopes of going into the medical field so that, like Jonas Salk, I might be able to help people around the world.

The idea that America has astonishing health care leaves many to take for granted what could happen if one of those special vaccines weren’t discovered. Has anyone ever thought about how many of us would be sick or dead from polio if Jonas Salk didn’t put in the effort to look for a vaccine? Most Americans hardly acknowledge the saving power of vaccines, and some downright deny the use of them, claiming that they cause problems and illnesses as much as the original diseases that they are supposed to prevent. People need to start accepting the fact that they play a part in their health. What will it take to realize the importance of vaccines? By the time you need a vaccination, it might be too late. 


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