Pam and Patricia O'Neil (now Patricia O'Neil Dryer) were poster children for a campaign to stop polio in the 1950s.
Polio: Then and now —
Pam and Patricia O'Neil (now Patricia O'Neil Dryer) were poster children for a campaign to stop polio in the 1950s.
Courtesy March of Dimes
Polio patients who could not breathe on their own were put into this respirator device, called an "iron lung." This image is from 1960.
Polio: Then and now —
Polio patients who could not breathe on their own were put into this respirator device, called an "iron lung." This image is from 1960.
CDC
An infant receives an oral polio vaccine at the Well-Baby Clinic in Dekalb County, Georgia, in 1977.
Polio: Then and now —
An infant receives an oral polio vaccine at the Well-Baby Clinic in Dekalb County, Georgia, in 1977.
CDC
Afghan Health Ministry employees administer polio vaccine drops to a child in Laghman province on June 11, 2012.
Polio: Then and now —
Afghan Health Ministry employees administer polio vaccine drops to a child in Laghman province on June 11, 2012.
AFP/Getty Images
A three-month-old infant receives polio vaccination drops from his mother at a camp in Jalozai, Pakistan, in this picture taken July 13.
Polio: Then and now —
A three-month-old infant receives polio vaccination drops from his mother at a camp in Jalozai, Pakistan, in this picture taken July 13.
Getty Images