The 1950s – Polio, a different war

SummaryAs detailed in the previous article in this series the focus of orthopaedics in the 1940s was very much on trauma care as a result of war casualties. However care of disabled children continued and it may have been expected that after the cease of hostilities traditional orthopaedic hospitals would return to their ‘core’ business of caring for such children, but at the same time a quiet war was taking place against the scourges of pre-war diseases. Poliomyelitis became a main orthopaedic focus of the developed nations’ health services. This article describes the fight and eventual victory over polio.