Salk vs. Sabin
Six years after the release of Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine, Dr. Albert Sabin developed an oral vaccine using a live virus. Similar to Salk's vaccine, the cases treated by Sabin's vaccine had dropped immensely. There are many advantages and disadvantages concerning the safety of both vaccines which balances the controversy.
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Albert Sabin polioplace.org
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Neither Salk nor Sabin patented their vaccine. They viewed the successful development of both vaccines a gift to the world. Salk and Sabin were not rivals. However, there were significant differences in their beliefs. Sabin had a strong opinion regarding whether a killed or live vaccine would be safer and more effective. Sabin claimed that the most effective method to create a long term vaccine was to use a weakened live virus. Both of the methods were effective, but Salk's was still the popular choice.
"In a lecture which I gave before the Michigan Clinical Institute on March 11, I enumerated the reasons why I thought the mass trial of poliomyelitis scheduled for 1954 was premature. This decision was based primarily on the fact that the material to be tested on a mass scale had received insufficient standardization and study to permit the proper performance of such a test or to draw any conclusions from it."
Live or Dead Vaccine?
"Could you patent the sun?" -Jonas Salk
Both vaccines are used in the U.S today. However, author Rebecca Voelker states that, "Sabin’s oral formulation became the vaccine of choice in global eradication efforts because it induces superior mucosal immunity, is easy to administer, and costs less." Although it was preferred at one point in time, there were also risks from the live vaccine. In some extremely rare cases, individuals could contract the disease because the virus was still alive. Which is why Salk's vaccine was preferred; there were no chances of contracting polio from the vaccine. Also, the IPV (inactivated polio vaccine) was extremely effective in preventing all three types of polio. Experts now believe that using both vaccines could be very effective.
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