Polio

diseases-and-conditions

When public health authorities say polio is spreading, they mean the virus is passing from person to person in a community, and that local transmission is under way. This usuall...

health

A polio survivor is anyone who has lived with the effects of poliomyelitis, whether they experienced paralysis or had a milder infection. This includes older adults who had poli...

health-and-medicine

The phrase "last of the iron lungs" refers to the few remaining negative pressure ventilators used historically to assist breathing in polio patients. Today, these devices are l...

Medical Decision-Making

Paul Alexander, often referenced as the "iron lung man," contracted polio in childhood, which left him permanently unable to breathe independently. For decades he used an iron l...

health

Paul Alexander is a polio survivor who spent much of his life in an iron lung and later used a ventilator. As of recent reports, he continues to advocate for disability rights a...

healthcare

The Iron Lung Man is commonly used to refer to Paul Alexander, a American attorney who became the longest-living person to spend much of his life inside an iron lung. He contrac...

biography

Paul Alexander’s time inside an iron lung is one of the most durable medical survival narratives in modern history. His experience illustrates the realities of living with par...

disease-and-conditions

As of the most recent authoritative assessments, only two countries have never interrupted wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission and are classified as endemic: Afghanistan and Paki...