Six years and that wasn't enough time. The initial Polio vaccines were a disaster: they caused polio in the people who took them. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

Six years and that wasn't enough time. The initial Polio vaccines were a disaster: they caused polio in the people who took them. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC2928990/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC2928990/ Abstract: The Salk inactivated poliovirus vaccine is one of the most rapid examples of bench‐to‐bedside translation in medicine. In the span of 6 years, the key basic lab discoveries facilitating the development of the vaccine were made, optimization and safety testing was completed in both animals and human volunteers, the largest clinical trial in history of 1.8 million children was conducted, and the results were released to an eagerly awaiting public. Such examples of rapid translation cannot only offer clues to what factors can successfully drive and accelerate the translational process but also what mistakes can occur (and thus should be avoided) during such a swift process. In this commentary, we explore the translational path of the Salk polio vaccine from the key basic science discoveries to the 1954 Field Trials and delve into the scientific and sociopolitical factors that aided in its rapid development. Moreover, we look at the Cutter and Wyeth incidents after the vaccine’s approval and the errors that led to them. The Cutter incident: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC1383764/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC1383764/ In April 1955 more than 200 000 children in five Western and mid-Western USA states received a polio vaccine in which the process of inactivating the live virus proved to be defective. Within days there were reports of paralysis and within a month the first mass vaccination programme against polio had to be abandoned. Subsequent investigations revealed that the vaccine, manufactured by the California-based family firm of Cutter Laboratories, had caused 40 000 cases of polio, leaving 200 children with varying degrees of paralysis and killing 10. This isn't restricted to the past. It can still happen today. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/polio-cases-now-caused-vaccine-wild-virus-67287290 https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/polio-cases-now-caus... LONDON -- Four African countries have reported new cases of polio linked to the oral vaccine, as global health numbers show there are now more children being paralyzed by viruses originating in vaccines than in the wild.