09/07/2025
Historic Facts about vaccines
Children in an iron lung before the polio vaccine, 1950.
The “iron lung” was a type of negative pressure ventilator used to help patients breathe when their muscles were paralyzed by polio. The device worked by creating rhythmic changes in air pressure inside the chamber. When the pressure dropped, a patient’s chest expanded, drawing air into the lungs; when pressure increased, the lungs were forced to exhale. Only the head stuck out of the sealed machine, while the rest of the body remained inside.
For children struck by severe polio, the virus often damaged the nerves controlling the diaphragm, leaving them unable to breathe on their own. Without a ventilator, death could occur within hours. The iron lung could keep patients alive for weeks, months, or even years. Some spent the majority of their lives inside, tended to by nurses who would adjust bedding, provide food, and even hold mirrors above the patient’s head so they could see their surroundings.
By the early 1950s, thousands of children in the U.S. and abroad relied on iron lungs. The situation changed drastically after Jonas Salk introduced the polio vaccine in 1955, followed by Albert Sabin’s oral vaccine in the 1960s. Mass immunization campaigns nearly eradicated the disease, making iron lungs a relic of medical history.
Added fact: A few polio survivors continued to live in iron lungs into the 21st century. One of the last known users, Paul Alexander from Texas, spent over 70 years in one after contracting polio in 1952. Despite his condition, he became a lawyer and author, proving that even from within an iron lung, life could still be lived to its fullest.
