In the early 20th century, polio ravaged the globe, leaving thousands of Canadians — mostly children under the age of 5 — dead or paralyzed. At the peak of the polio pandemic in 1953, provincial public health departments closed schools, quarantined the infected, restricted travel and closed movie theatres and recreational facilities. In this 1959 photo by Eddy Roworth, Toronto Star science editor Leonard Bertin receives his Salk polio vaccine injection. “My father wrote six books on popular science, and he helped found the Canadian Science Writers’ Association,” says Oliver. “He never sat still — he was always rushing around campaigning or promoting or researching.”Oliver recalls how scared people were of polio in the late 1950s, before the vaccine was widely available.

Source: thestar April 25, 2021 09:22 UTC