Epidemics and Fear

The recent news and developments related to Ebola have raised lots of issues and fears. Some legitimate and quite a few unfounded. The worst of it all is the continued politicalization of the disease and communications about it. The best advice I've heard is to follow science and not the politics. It's disgraceful how some politicians on both sides are dealing with this issue.

Obviously Ebola is a scary and dangerous disease. That's clear from the death and devastation it's causing for thousands in West Africa. Scare tactics and fear are the worst way to deal with it. Health professionals understand the virus better than all of the politicians. But we do have to understand that fear is a historical method for people to get their way. Fear has been used for centuries to accomplish all kinds of goals - the justification of wars, the treatment of groups of people and so forth.

I've had some expierience with fear - leadership by fear and just plain life expierience with fear. It comes in all shapes and sizes. I've seen people try to lead by fear in both the non-profit and for-profit world and of course in government. It's effective because it helps bring people around to a point of view. The downside is that the people being led many times find out that their being used or misled in terms of facts and truth. Eventually that makes some or all angry and the leader can be defeated or removed. All of that can be and often is a painful process.

But I've had other experiences with fear. I'll share one that is related to some of what we're seeing today. My family lived in Spring Lake, NJ in the late 40's/early 50's. Spring Lake was one of many communities on the Jersey shore that was hit very hard by the polio epidemic of that period. Children all over the country were stricken with flu like symptoms that led to muscle paralysis.  In the worst cases individuals ended up in iron lungs, large tubular canister units that helped that paralyzed person breathe.

My family was hit hard by polio. Out of four children, three ended up with polio. My older brother, my older sister and I all had it. My younger sister didn't contract the disease. No one then or now knows why. I can't really imagine the fear and confusion that my mother and father must have gone through. I was about five years old at the time. What I write about this expierience is a mix of early childhood memories and family storytelling.

The impact of the polio hit us chronologically - my brother, my sister and me. All of us ended up in the hospital separated from each other in various states of paralysis. In my own case my entire left side was paralyzed. Neither my left arm or leg would work properly although there was always some level of control. There were no known cures at the time. We were right on the cusp of the Salk vaccine. There were various treatments, however. One was to place heavy cast type material on the affected body areas. My guess would be to help build resistance and therefore strength to the muscles. The other was exercise developed by a nun, Sister Kenny. I believe the later is the approach that I received. I remember a hand and leg bar set up on pulleys with weights that I would utilize throughout the day to move my affected limbs. There were also continuous doses of penicillin given at various times during the day and night, all in my rear end.

My brother honed his social skills organizing wheelchair races down the hall. My sister was on a different floor. There were iron lungs, wheelchairs, braces, crutches and everything you can imagine for the many children in various states of paralysis. I was fitted for a brace and used it for a bit. It could have been days or weeks. Miraculously all three of us recovered over time with no remnants of the paralysis. I have had some weakness on my left side but that's about it.

The town in effect was under quarantine. The beaches were closed. Municipal pools were closed. Public congregation was discouraged. No one knew where this awful disease was coming from but it was targeting the children of many communities. There was certainly fear. I was too young to understand or even remember the conversations and political discussions that must have taken place. Along the boardwalk there were two or three municipal pools where we had always swam as kids. I never understood why there were pools built right on the ocean but there they were. I remember some talk of the virus being transmitted at the pools. My mother had her own theory. She was convinced we got the virus from flies that had been very prevalent that summer. I'm sure the CDC would appreciate her input and insights today.

The point is, it was a mess and people were fearful. They depended on their doctors and nurses to help them and to provide them with the best information available. But people were scared. Kids were segregated and separated. Families stayed in homes looking for the smallest indication of the illness appearing. I wasn't a part of those conversations but I know they took place in addition to the rumor mills and news stories.

In the end science did win out. People received treatments of various kinds and Salk's vaccine came online. Many people though weren't as lucky as me and their paralysis remained.  Others died. Families struggled. We should learn.