Monday, November 19, 2018 12:26:54 PM
That was not the question, however, when I was in the second grade. We already had a couple of kids who were in wheel chairs, “hooked-up” to all sorts of things attached to their bodies. They had poliomyelitis. Our mothers warned us not to play with any kid who sneezed or seemed sick in any way. “Stay away from those kids. You’ll get polio, and die.”
After the war, tens of thousands of mothers of we baby-boomers across the country collaborated in the March of Dimes campaign to fund and promote research for a vaccine. Jonas Salk and his team perfected one, and by the social and political pressure of “concerned mothers,” the vaccine was brought rapidly to the upper arms of vulnerable school kids around the country. Faster than any other new medical procedure or treatment to date. Astounding speed of implementation.
And I remember it with particular interest. A busload of us from Hayes Elementary were bussed across town to Stamm Elementary, which had a large gymnasium floor. Lined up, alphabetically, we were dutifully led into the gymnasium, behind a dozen other lines of kids moving slowly toward some seated nurses (white-capped, in those days). There was a smell of steam (or something), emanations from trays of sterilized glass syringes); and ominously, intermittent yelps of pain. “Ouch! That hurt!”
Dozens of kids were being injected with the brand-new Salk vaccine. It hurt at bit, but even we little second-graders knew, as our mothers and teachers told us, the pain was worth enduring. Some of our friends already had contracted polio.
To this day, I remember Barbie. She was right in front of me. She told me she’d, “be brave.” She was. The nurse picked up another syringe and gave Barbie her shot. She turned her head, and merely winced. Then, my turn. I watched. “Ouch.” But I was a boy. I could take it, and did.
Then, a few steps past the inoculation table, I looked at Barbie’s arm. The needle had come loose from the syringe when it was pulled out. The needle was still stuck in her arm. She turned and saw it, and screamed. A nurse’s aide came over, plucked the needle, and tried to calm Barbie, who was now feinted on the floor.
For all of that, six decades later, neither Barbie nor I have suffered with polio. It was the March of Dimes mothers who made this all happen, faster than anyone else imagined or perceived possible.
Could such a thing happen in Australia? How will the families and care givers of hundreds of thousands of Alzheimer’s patients react to increasing anecdotal accounts of, “Mom’s so much better now that she’s taking that little pink pill. She sleeps every night now, too!”?
Might social action, fulminating rather rapidly in political pressure, prompt rapid implementation of Anavex 2-73 in Australia, quite in the manner of the March of Dimes mothers and the Salk polio vaccine in the early 1950s?
By no means, not out of the question.
Recent AVXL News
- Form 10-Q - Quarterly report [Sections 13 or 15(d)] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 08/06/2024 09:21:05 PM
- Anavex Life Sciences Reports Fiscal 2024 Third Quarter Financial Results and Provides Business Update • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 08/06/2024 11:30:00 AM
- Anavex Life Sciences to Announce Fiscal 2024 Third Quarter Financial Results on Tuesday, August 6, 2024 • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 08/01/2024 11:30:00 AM
- Form 8-K - Current report • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/30/2024 09:20:53 PM
- Anavex Life Sciences Announces Translational Biomarker Data for ANAVEX®2-73 (blarcamesine) in Fragile X Syndrome (Major Cause of Autism) at the 19th NFXF International Fragile X Conference • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 07/30/2024 11:30:00 AM
- Form S-3 - Registration statement under Securities Act of 1933 • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/29/2024 09:21:49 PM
- Results from Anavex Life Sciences Landmark Phase IIb/III Trial of Blarcamesine Presented at Alzheimer's Association Conference • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 07/28/2024 09:00:00 PM
- Anavex Life Sciences to Present at the H.C. Wainwright 5th Annual Neuro Perspectives Virtual Conference • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 06/20/2024 11:30:00 AM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 06/17/2024 11:30:10 AM
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- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/17/2024 10:01:00 AM
- Anavex Life Sciences to Present at the H.C. Wainwright 2nd BioConnect Investor Conference at NASDAQ • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 05/14/2024 11:30:00 AM
- Shareholders that lost money on Anavex Life Sciences Corporation(AVXL) Urged to Join Class Action - Contact The Gross Law Firm to Learn More • PR Newswire (US) • 05/10/2024 09:45:00 AM
- Form 10-Q - Quarterly report [Sections 13 or 15(d)] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/09/2024 08:35:55 PM
- Form 8-K - Current report • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/09/2024 12:00:30 PM
- Anavex Life Sciences Reports Fiscal 2024 Second Quarter Financial Results and Provides Business Update • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 05/09/2024 11:30:00 AM
- The Gross Law Firm Announces the Filing of a Securities Class Action on Behalf of Anavex Life Sciences Corporation(AVXL) Shareholders • PR Newswire (US) • 05/07/2024 09:45:00 AM
- Form DEFA14A - Additional definitive proxy soliciting materials and Rule 14(a)(12) material • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/06/2024 10:03:33 AM
- Anavex Life Sciences Corporation Sued for Securities Law Violations - Contact The Gross Law Firm Before May 13, 2024 to Discuss Your Rights - AVXL • PR Newswire (US) • 05/03/2024 09:45:00 AM
- Anavex Life Sciences to Announce Fiscal 2024 Second Quarter Financial Results on Thursday, May 9th, 2024 • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 05/02/2024 11:30:00 AM
- May 13, 2024 Deadline: Contact The Gross Law Firm to Join Class Action Suit Against AVXL • PR Newswire (US) • 04/26/2024 09:45:00 AM
- Contact The Gross Law Firm by May 13, 2024 Deadline to Join Class Action Against Anavex Life Sciences Corporation(AVXL) • PR Newswire (US) • 04/19/2024 09:45:00 AM
- The Gross Law Firm Reminds Shareholders of a Lead Plaintiff Deadline of May 13, 2024 in Anavex Life Sciences Lawsuit - AVXL • PR Newswire (US) • 04/16/2024 09:45:00 AM
- Class Action Filed Against Anavex Life Sciences Corporation (AVXL) - May 13, 2024 Deadline to Join - Contact The Gross Law Firm • PR Newswire (US) • 04/12/2024 09:45:00 AM
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