# Ever known anyone who'd had polio? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 24, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317 "2010-06-24T03:40:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/101 "2012-04-23T19:45:03Z")
The mother of a friend had polio and is currently having some issues related to it - but I do not know the details. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/102 "2012-04-23T19:49:52Z")
My paternal grandfather had polio. He required a brace on one leg and always had to steady himself with one hand. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/103 "2012-04-23T20:20:55Z")
My father had it as a child, but was left with no debilitation. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/104 "2012-04-24T02:15:26Z")
I’m 51. I knew one classmate who had it- wrecked her legs, but she could still walk. Two faculty members at my high school had bad limps because of it, my dad’s cousin by marriage had it and limps badly these days, and I worked with a guy who had a bad leg because of it. That makes five people. ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/105 "2012-04-24T02:20:59Z")
I work in nursing homes and I’ve met two people with polio. I’m 29. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/106 "2012-04-24T02:55:50Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I don’t suppose anyone in developed countries here would have first hand experience with smallpox survivors (at least knowingly). Now that, I’d be curious about. Diphtheria is one that fascinates me. According to the CDC, the last case in the US was in 2003. But you hear about random measles, mumps, and pertussis outbreaks every few months or so, but never diphtheria. Why is that? Diphtheria and pertussis are in the same vaccine, so if people are skipping them and getting whooping cough, why aren’t they also starting diphtheria outbreaks? Is the bacteria just not endemic in the US anymore while pertussis is? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/107 "2012-04-24T12:28:55Z")
Because pertussis vaccine isn’t always a component of the diphtheria/tetanus vaccine, so it’s possible to go without the pertussis component. I think part of the issue is that most people recognize that diphtheria and tetanus are fatal, but they perceive pertussis as being less serious. The sprog had a classmate whose parents were clueless in that regard. They figured that they could skip the pertussis to prevent unspecified “problems” with the vaccine because “whooping cough is just a cough; how bad could it be?” The nurse had to send something home to all of the students that described just how bad pertussis is. In a perfect world, parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids would be publicly shamed in the way that drunk drivers sometimes are. Then the rest of us would be able to make the decision about whether to let our kids play with them. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/108 "2012-04-25T05:21:41Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’m 64, and remember when the first polio vaccines came out, in the 50s. All in all, I’ve known 5 people who’d had polio . . . not counting people with no visible effect. How many people have you known, if any? And please give your age. I’m 63. My big sister had it bad when I was growing up. To this day, she walks with a severe limp when she walks at all; most of the time, she’s in a powered chair now. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/109 "2012-04-25T05:58:08Z")
My grandma had a brother (now dead) who had polio. He could walk, but not terribly far. He used those metal forearm crutches. MODERATOR NOTE: (Link that was here redacted at the request of the linkee.) ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/110 "2012-04-25T06:11:29Z")
When I taught in Beirut (2000-2006), our department secretary (who at the time was well into her 60s) was a polio survivor. One of her legs was very weak, and so it affected her gait. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/111 "2012-04-25T08:24:48Z")
I have an uncle who had polio (as a child in India). His walk is fucked up, but he can do it, slowly and with difficulty (hunched over and usually balancing with a hand against the walls). ---
**Author:** ![tomdenny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9f8e36/32.png) [@tomdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/112 "2012-11-30T17:09:31Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Yes - I used to know a lady who shopped at a consignment store I worked at on weekends. > > One of her feet was a size 5 and the other a 9 due to polio. She always had to buy 2 pairs of shoes ('cus no amount of insoles is gonna turn a 5 into a 9). > > She shopped at the store because they also clear and would have cute shoes in odd sizes so she could get a pair for a reasonable price. Sadly, she was also a total shoe girl. I always thought she would have had an easier time with handbags. Did this lady allow you to fit the shoe on her polio leg?Some lame ladies do not like anyone touching their lame leg. She must have had quite a severe limp judging by the foot size difference. Did the small size shoe need to be built-up - most polio victims have a shorter leg due to paralysis. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/113 "2012-11-30T17:12:53Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > In my 50s, and I’ve known one. My Dad’s boss had it as a child. He had a lifelong limp but was not what you would call incapacitated. Also, looking it up, I see the last reported case of polio in Thailand was in 1997, which was not that long ago. But I have not known any Thais with it. Eradicated here now. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/114 "2012-11-30T17:15:23Z")
**tomdenny** , I’m just curious - is there any particular reason you’ve only ever posted on this board about lame women/women with leg or foot-related disabilties, often digging up threads that haven’t had any activity for years in order to do so? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/115 "2012-11-30T18:01:05Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > **tomdenny** , I’m just curious - is there any particular reason you’ve only ever posted on this board about lame women/women with leg or foot-related disabilties, often digging up threads that haven’t had any activity for years in order to do so? I don’t know, but he sent me a PM with the exact same wording as his post here back in April, which I ignored, because it was creepy. And to answer the question, because apparently there is a burning need for the information, I didn’t fit the lady at all - she was perfectly capable of putting on her own shoes, and had no limp that I noticed. In fact, I wouldn’t have even noticed the foot thing if she hadn’t pointed it out and asked about various shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/116 "2012-11-30T18:35:24Z")
The fellow who solod me in a glider. Had to wear one shoe with about a 3" sole. Anyone that flew at Calastoga probably knew Hal, but I knew him when he lived in Albuquerque. Loved that man. ETA: I am 49. Leg braces and such were pretty common when I was in school. I remember getting the vaccine in 1st grade. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/117 "2012-11-30T18:45:25Z")
My mom was born in '28, and got it as a young girl. She was wheelchair bound for awhile but learned to walk again. She always walked with a “drop foot” or whatever it’s called. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/118 "2012-11-30T18:53:19Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > I don’t know, but he sent me a PM with the exact same wording as his post here back in April, which I ignored, because it was creepy. :eek: Good move on your part, that. ---
**Author:** ![Neverender](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Neverender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neverender)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/119 "2012-11-30T19:15:41Z")
My dad has an atrophied calf due to polio, it’s smaller in appearance to the other, but otherwise doesn’t seem to affect him. He’s never had a problem walking, or riding a bike etc. He was born in '54 (in England, fwiw). ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317/120 "2012-11-30T19:19:02Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > **tomdenny** , I’m just curious - is there any particular reason you’ve only ever posted on this board about lame women/women with leg or foot-related disabilties, often digging up threads that haven’t had any activity for years in order to do so? He posted a couple times when he signed up, and a couple times today. One of those is the same thread he was in when he signed up. Limp fetish? Maybe, but I’d say “often digging up threads” is an exaggeration. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-known-anyone-whod-had-polio/544317.md?page=7)