Polio epidemic

General websites

Here are some reliable websites to help you understand more about polio, its history, causes, symptoms, treatment and immunisation against the disease.

Britannica School

Britannica School, the online version of Encyclopedia Britannica is part of the EPIC databases. EPIC is a collection of reliable databases covering lots of different topics. It is put together especially for New Zealand school students and helps to answer questions about polio.

Use these steps to search for information about polio.

• Choose Middle as your level.

• Enter the keyword 'polio' into the search bar.

• Select to read poliomyelitis (pathology).

• To get more or less information change the article Reading Level at the top of the article.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

World Health Organisation (WHO)

The main work of the WHO is to coordinate and support international health systems in countries that are part of the United Nations.

• Go to the tab called Health Topics and select the letter P.

• Find a link to Poliomyelitis (polio) to read fact sheets, news, data on polio vaccinations, and WHO actions like the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

• Further down the page are links to multimedia, events and stories related to polio vaccination and response to outbreaks.

Tips: Many web pages have links to further information or to other recommended sites. Following these links is a great way to find out more. This searching method is called “pearl growing” because you are picking up pieces of sand to make a beautiful pearl!

The History of Vaccines

This American based website has a good timeline of the vaccine and information about symptoms and causes of polio, as well as how it is transmitted.

• First, choose Articles from the options at the top of the page.

• Then from the headings down the left-hand side choose Vaccine-Preventable Diseases.

• Next, choose the article called History of Polio (Poliomyelitis).

Tips: Websites that have .org or .net in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the organisation’s mission and values are. We like this website because we can tell it is researched and written by The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and its aims are educational.

New Zealand sites

New Zealand experienced polio epidemics from the 1920s to the 1960s. Thanks to the vaccine, several countries around the world including New Zealand have eliminated polio completely. The websites below will guide you to more information about the impact polio had in New Zealand.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about Aotearoa New Zealand. If we look down to the bottom of the page, we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

To find information about epidemics in New Zealand, including polio, follow this pathway:

• Choose the story Social Connections.

• Next, pick Health.

• Then, choose Epidemics.

• There is information about polio on page 5, The polio era, 1920s to 1960s.

• You can also search using 'polio' as your keyword and find other stories that mention polio, such as Disability and disability organisations.

To find out about New Zealanders whose lives were changed by polio:

• Search for 'polio'.

• Choose results from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.

• This has several biographies of people who were affected by polio in different ways eg Alice June Norma Opie.

NZ History

NZ History is another great website from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, for information about New Zealand.

• Use the search bar to search for the keyword 'polio'.

• Read about the mass vaccination against polio in 1962 - key events.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg polio. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

Healthify | He Puna Waiora

This website is written by experienced medical writers. If you look to the bottom of the page, you can see it is supported by Te Whatu Ora | Health New Zealand and others. It has information about lots of different diseases that affect people in New Zealand.

• Go to Health A-Z.

• Find Polio and post-polio syndrome.

• Open the different headings to read information about symptoms, treatment, and prevention of polio in New Zealand.

PolioNZ

This is the website of the New Zealand society dedicated to supporting people who have had polio and are living with its effects.

• Take a look under About us to find the history of polio in New Zealand.

Books

Have a look at these books or ask your school or local librarian for more recommendations.

• The polio pioneer: Dr Jonas Salk and the polio vaccine by Linda Elovitz Marshall.

• The first polio vaccine by Guy De la Bédoyère.

• Small steps: the year I got polio by Peg Kehret.

• Otiwhiti Station: the story of a hill country station and pioneering polio hospital by Vera Hunt.

• Wilma Rudolph: running for Gold by Percy Leed.

SCIS no: 5368738