Even though Jonas Salk’s vaccine beat the polio virus into submission in the 1950s, the United States still has more than 400,000 polio survivors, and up to half of them have post‑polio syndrome (PPS). A National Institutes of Health Web site defines PPS as “a condition that affects polio survivors anywhere from 10‑40 years after recovery from an initial paralytic attack of the poliomyelitis virus.”

PPS symptoms can include further weakening of polio‑affected muscles, fatigue, joint pain, muscular atrophy and difficulty in swallowing.

“I remember (getting polio) like it was yesterday,” said 67‑year‑old Dick Baumer of Owatonna, Minn., in a telephone interview, referring to being age four. “It was 1944, and I was coming home from school (in Wisconsin) with my sister and had been feeling yucky. I was a half block from home when I fell down and couldn’t get up.”

A family doctor immediately referred the young boy to a hospital in Madison, Wis., 180 miles away. He heard his mother screaming with fear as he was placed in isolation at the hospital. He was paralyzed from the waist down.

“Then I was at the Sister Kenny Institute about six months,” said Baumer. “I was wrapped in hot rags (for treatment). When released in April 1945, I was only able to crawl and support myself for short periods of time.”

By early 1946, he was gaining strength and walking again. Baumer eventually graduated from college, then lied about having had polio to join the Air Force. No one even suspected.

Today, he deals with muscle weakness in his right leg and has sleep apnea, not uncommon for people with his type of polio. He also recently had knee surgery.

Said Baumer, “I was one of the founding members of (a state post‑polio awareness and support society). Its mission is to educate people about post‑polio syndrome and help them get in touch with organizations that provide services and support. But the most important aspect of the group is to educate.”

He related that one major problem currently facing people with PPS is that most physicians under age 50 don’t know that much about polio.

“If you are having physical problems, be sure to look up a support group,” said Baumer. “There is no cure for PPS. As for advice, we tell people to conserve their energy in order to preserve a decent lifestyle.”