This thesis looks at the social, political, and military effects of epidemic polio on America's war effort during World War II. The primary sources consulted include newspapers, military medical reports, photographs, memoirs, speeches, and archival collections. It looks at the effects of polio on the home front, more specifically how epidemics and the rising rates of polio were a detriment to the civilian war effort. It also focuses on the American military's preparation for and response to polio outbreaks among troops both at home and abroad. Finally, it discusses the experiences of the servicemen who contracted polio during the war. This work fills a major hole in the historiography of the disease and highlights the overlapping interests of the public, the medical community, and the military during a time of war.

The resurgence of the polio virus in Nigeria following vaccine rejections poses a severe threat to the total worldwide eradication of polio. Vaccine refusals are a huge problem in Nigeria, especially in the North, which accounts for about 60 percent of polio cases in 2013. These refusals were informed by claims that polio vaccines contained anti-fertility properties that were designed by the ‘West’ to reduce the Muslim population. These claims and subsequent vaccine rejections culminated in the killing of health workers during an immunisation exercise in February 2013. This study is an analysis of the coverage of the polio eradication controversy by two newspapers- Punch and Daily Trust, following the killings of the health workers. Daily Trust is situated in Northern Nigeria, while Punch is situated in the South. The choice of these newspapers is based on the argument by Ayodele (1988) and Omenugha (2004) that the Nigerian press has been accused of escalating tension in the country because they view many aspects of the Nigerian reality from the lenses of religious, political and cultural prejudices. Because it is a text-based study, the chosen research method is Fairclough’s (1995) model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), following a preliminary thematic content analysis. In addition to Fairclough’s model, the study employs textual analytic tools such as narrative analysis and rhetoric/argumentative analysis. The selected texts, which comprise editorials and news stories are analysed based on the themes identified during the thematic content analysis. The study concludes that while the two newspapers differ in their locations and stylistic approach to news, they are similar in their coverage of the polio eradication crisis. They both side with the Federal Government and help perpetuate the South versus North animosity thereby ignoring the intricacies involved in the polio eradication controversy.

Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-07T15:59:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) 15.pdf: 4496880 bytes, checksum: 70628242622430623aca45bc57d470ca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Durante os anos de 1950, em diferentes países do mundo, surtos epidêmicos de poliomielite deixaram milhares de pessoas, principalmente crianças, com graves sequelas. No Brasil, o clamor social diante das consequências das epidemias de paralisia infantil, as matérias na imprensa e a associação de médicos a empresários, industriais, banqueiros, políticos e familiares das vítimas de poliomielite criaram as condições para o surgimento de uma entidade filantrópica na antiga Capital Federal, a Associação Brasileira Beneficente de Reabilitação (ABBR). O objetivo principal desta tese é analisar o processo de profissionalização da fisioterapia no Rio de Janeiro, a partir da criação da ABBR, em 1954, até o reconhecimento da Escola de Reabilitação do Rio de Janeiro (ERRJ), em 1965. São debatidos o desenvolvimento da fisioterapia e reabilitação no pós-segunda Guerra, o impacto social da poliomielite e a sua relação com ações de filantropia e a mobilização da sociedade carioca em torno da ABBR. A partir da discussão sobre a poliomielite são analisados, do ponto de vista histórico, os critérios para definição de prioridades e alocação de recursos em saúde pública e as responsabilidades assumidas pelo Estado em relação ao tratamento dos doentes. A principal conclusão da tese é que a poliomielite teve um papel central na criação da ABBR e da ERRJ e que estas instituições, assim como a AFEG, tiveram papel decisivo na profissionalização da fisioterapia no país.

How it is a consequence of that title, this extended essay deals with problems of people suffering from poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis). Thanks to the systematic vaccination, this disease has not been found in the Czech Republik since the 1960s. The people who had got over paralysis after acute poliomyelitis in a successful way were feeling sureness for years. The return of the illness, respectively its late consequences after a few decades of a normal life means a change-over from the state of full or - as the case may be {--} only mildly reduced abilities to the state of lifelong invalidity for them. Handicapped people have to get over great numbers of obstructions and limits which arise partly from the existence of hte certain handicap and which are given by the handicaps {--} limits the organization of the society put in their way in the course of ist development in parts. Over recent years, the Czech Rebublik has ranged with the countries which realize a greater responsibility for the elimination of barriers keeping the handicapped citizens away from a full - value participation in the life of the society. The aim of the essay was to obtain a comprehensive view of possibilities of keeping social needs of people suffering from poliomyelitis {--} infantile paralysis and to evaluate the barriers which have to be got over by that group. It was also a very important thing to find the quality of life and satisfaction with a realization of aims of life as far as people suffering from poliomyelitis and to compare it with the quality of life as regards the current population. Three following hypotheses were set in line with this aim. Hypothesis No 1: In spite of the current legislation concerning the elimination of architectonic barriers, the handicapped people are limited in the participation in the public life. Hypothesis No 2: Considering the dependence on the other person´ s aid, the people suffering from postpoliomyelitis syndrome appreciate financial guarantees ensuing from the social service law in a high degree. Hypothesis No 3: The quality of life of people suffering from poliomyelitis is reduced, in comparison with the quality of life as far as healthy people. Hypothese 1 and 2 were confirmed by my research, hypothesis No 3 was not verified. The detailed analysis of the given hypotheses is included in the part of discussion in the extended essay. With respect to the relevance of the mentioned topic I suppose that the obtained results could be a contribution to the organizacions dealing with questions if the handicapped people . The essay can be presented at a public meeting of Assotiatin Polio various specialists and the lay public take part in.

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