1952 polio epidemic (the one that crippled one of my good friends)...... "Of the 57,628 cases reported that year 3,145 died and 21,269 were left with mild to disabling paralysis."
In the entire epidemic in a year, 57, 628 cases.
To date: 53, 520 cases in New York alone............. in a few weeks.
Not the same thing.
We have never seen anything like this in our lifetimes.
NONE of us.
1952 was not the first year that polio appeared on the scene, meaning that there was already some immunity in the general population. However, your figures do point out casualties of over 24,000 in that year alone. A 1916 epidemic in New York City alone killed 2,000 and left untold thousands paralyzed. The response was massive quarantines, the closure of public establishments, and the prohibition of gatherings. Names
and addresses of those infected were published in news outlets, initializing the ostracizing its victims. By casual observation, you couldn't tell who had it since many cases went undetected and did not result in paralysis.
In the 40's and 50's, polio would kill or paralyze on average HALF A MILLION PEOPLE across the world EVERY YEAR.
So yes, America has faced something like this before, something that has had a longer lived and far more devastating effect than the current epidemic.
