Question

Which choice best describes the biggest impact of Jonas Salk's work with poliomyelitis?

a) Jonas Salk became a professor of medicine and the head of the Institute for Biological Studies.
b) Jonas Salk was celebrated for his work and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
c) Jonas Salk created a vaccine that has nearly eliminated the disease in the United States.
d) Jonas Salk tested his vaccine on a large group of children and published his findings.

Answer 1

Jonas Salk's creation of the polio vaccine and the subsequent mass immunization campaigns led to a dramatic decline in polio cases, nearly eradicating the disease in the United States and setting a precedent for modern vaccination programs.

Step-by-step explanation:

The biggest impact of Jonas Salk's work with poliomyelitis is best described by the vast reduction of the disease due to the vaccine he created. His development of the polio vaccine, which used a killed virus, combined with mass immunization campaigns in the 1950s and 1960s, significantly reduced the incidence of the disease in the United States.

Salk's vaccine was introduced in 1955 and was an inactivated polio virus delivered through intramuscular injection. Salk's approach to testing and distributing the vaccine was revolutionary for its time and resulted in a rapid decline in polio cases. By 1961, polio's prevalence in the U.S. had decreased by 96 percent. This extraordinary achievement paved the way for the prevention of numerous other infectious diseases through routine childhood vaccinations.

Moreover, Jonas Salk's decision not to patent the vaccine ensured its widespread accessibility, which, combined with its high efficacy, has nearly eliminated polio in the United States. The advent of the polio vaccine marks a significant milestone in medical history and public health.