LOUDONVILLE — In 1948, Eugene “Jeep” Allerding, of Loudonville, suddenly fell ill from a severe attack of the polio virus.
Although 90 to 95 percent of those infected with the virus experience no symptoms, Jeep was one of only 0.5 percent infected to suffer from an attack on his central nervous system (CNS).
In addition to polio’s usual respiratory tract infections, gastrointestinal disturbances, and influenza-like illness — including headaches, pain, fever, vomiting, lethargy, and irritability — those who experience CNS attacks progress into a paralytic disease, causing muscles to become weak, floppy, poorly controlled, and finally paralyzed.
As part of the weakening state of the body, victims may no longer be able to breathe on their own.
Jeep was quickly transferred to the Children’s Hospital in Columbus, where his sister Martha (Henley) worked as a nurse. Children’s Hospital had an entire floor exclusively for polio patients of all ages.
Unable to breathe, Jeep was placed in a cylindrical steel drum known as a negative pressure ventilator — or iron lung — which used pumps to increase and decrease the air pressure, causing Jeep’s chest and lungs to expand and contract in a form of mechanical breathing.
Jeep was confined to the iron lung for three months, completely reliant on the machine to keep him alive — however the hospital did not have generators at the time, meaning that whenever the power failed staff would have to run to all of the iron lungs in the hospital and manually pump air in and out with a foot pedal.
Jeep’s strength slowly recovered and after three months he was weened off of the life support of the iron lung and able to breathe on his own. He was fitted for braces, and spent years attempting to recover from the debilitating illness.
Unable to return to work at the Flxible Company, where he previously worked in the trim department, Jeep spent his time in his wood shop building and selling novelties such as wooden lamps, lawn chairs, picture frames, and other items.
After nearly three years of recovery doctors noted that he was regaining strength, and hoped in the near future would be able to return to work – -provided there was little lifting and no necessity to reach above his head.
However, sadly, in 1953 he passed away from complications of the illness at the age of 26.
Jonas Salk developed the world’s first polio vaccine in 1952, but not before as many as 20,000 Americans suffered debilitating paralysis like Jeep.
An estimated 1,000 died every year, mostly infants — leading to the many referring to polio as Infantile Paralysis. Many adults, like Jeep and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, would however also become infected with the virus.
Once the vaccine was approved for use in 1955, the United States initiated mass vaccination programs across the country to combat the polio virus.
In 1994 the United States was declared polio-free.
In 2000, 37 Western Pacific countries (including China and Australia) declared the disease eradicated–although in 2011 the disease spread from Pakistan into China.
In 2002, Europe was declared free of polio — however in 2015 two cases were diagnosed in Ukraine.
Since 2011 there have been no known cases in India — once considered an endemic zone — although a waiting period is in place before it can be declared polio-free.
In 2014, the World Health Organization announced the eradication of the disease in the South-East Asia Region.
An estimated 80 percent of the world population now lives in polio-free zones.
As of 2020, only three countries remain endemic: Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. However, neighboring countries continue to see new cases due to hidden symptoms or transmission from these regions.
Reports of the disease have also appeared in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, and Iraq. Vaccinations in these regions are hampered by civil wars and conflicts, but more importantly because many militants in these regions have issued a fatwa against vaccination — claiming that the vaccine is a conspiracy by the United States and United Nations agains the Muslim faith.
More information on the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum can be found at this link.
