On April 12, 1955, researchers announced the first polio vaccine, which was instantly approved. Before vaccines were available, polio caused 15,000 cases of paralysis in the US each year. The US ...

Wearing masks, avoiding large gatherings, shutting down schools—those scenes might sound familiar to anyone who experienced the most recent global pandemic.

Growing up, my siblings and I would occasionally get to look through my mom’s scrapbook full of greeting cards from friends and neighbors and black-and-white photos of children in hospital beds. Too ...

Members of the Post Polio Network volunteer at a recent health and disability fair in New Hope, Pa. Jim Smith was only 2 years old when he suddenly became paralyzed from the neck down. It was 1945, ...

While polio may seem like a disease of the past, its eradication is still unfinished business—and one of the most ambitious global health undertakings in history. In honor of World Polio Day on ...

Advertisements for freezers, lounge chairs and remedies for itching, gas and constipation were on the fifth page of Uniontown’s Evening Standard on April 16, 1952, which was a Wednesday. As they ...

Alexander Tin is a digital reporter for CBS News based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers federal public health agencies. "Anyone seeking the Senate's consent to serve in the incoming ...

In the summer of 1950 fear gripped the residents of Wytheville, Virginia. Movie theaters shut down, baseball games were cancelled and panicky parents kept their children indoors — anything to keep ...

Overland was a reporter and public health writer in Asia for more than a decade. She is currently an editor at NPR. My son was 5 years old when he climbed out of bed and landed on the floor. He was ...

Here’s a multiple-choice question. When you get really close to a goal that you’ve worked towards for decades, should you: Redouble efforts. Stay the course. Reverse course and do less. Number three ...