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Show Polio Workers Report On Recent Reno Meeting Data On Salk Vaccine Shows Results The future of the continuing fight against polio will depend in large degree on the success of next January's March of Dimes, Mr. and Mrs. Arvin L. Eellon, Duchesne County March of Dimes chairmen, declared today. Mr. and Mrs. Bellon have just returned from a March of Dimes planning meeting in Reno with Basil O'Connor, president of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which was attended by 250 volunteer leaders from five states. "The Salk polio vaccine marks a magnificent victory over a virus," vir-us," they said, but the disease caused by the virus is not licked yet. It won't be until polio crippling crip-pling is a thing of the past. That can happen only when everybody who is suscentihle has been eiven the protection vaccine affords, and when we have rebuilt the lives of tens of thousands for whom the vaccine has come too late." Preparations for the 1956 March of Dimes will start immediately in Duchesne County, Mr. and Mrs. Bellon stated, so that an all-out effort can be made to raise this area's share of the funds needed to continue the fight against polio. "Mr. O'Connor outlined the vital need to intensify the polio crusade at the meeting," Mr. and Mrs. Bellon Bel-lon continued. "The National Foundation's Foun-dation's school vaccine program is providing a large measure of protection pro-tection for about 7,000,000 children chil-dren this vear. But the disease has claimed thousands of new victims among the 53,000,000 remaining under age 20 who have received no vaccine. Moreover, a small percentage per-centage of individuals are incapable of responding to vaccine. "Thus new polio patients are continuously added to the thousands thous-ands who already rely on the March of Dimes for help. Even as we look to the future, we realize our obligations to those who must be served on their long road back to usefulness. The challenge to repair re-pair lives to the highest degree is ours right now." Mr. and Mrs. Bellon pointed out that the Salk vaccine in 1954 was proved 60 to 90 per cent effective and that since then it has been increased in potency. This means possibly an even higher percentage of protection was given those who received at least two shots before the 1955 polio season. But scientists are seeking ways of improving it still further, they said, and funds must be provided for this continuing research. In addition, ad-dition, money is needed to continue con-tinue the work of training doctors, nurses, therapists and other professional pro-fessional workers for both research and patient care. The National Foundation is sponsoring the largest larg-est professional education program of any national voluntary group, they added. |