Our "Polio Scare" 1945-1955
Posted February 6, 2026 by JanFeature image:
Jomtien Beach
Thailand
February 6, 2026
Friday
Hello,
Those of us who grew up in the 1940's or the 1950's got sick with the so-called childhood diseases. I myself had Chickenpox and Whooping Cough, Mumps and both Measles and German Measles. My parents followed the normal medical advice at the time so my tonsils were removed when I was six.
But, at that time the dreaded word was Polio! Infantile
Paralysis. Usually in the summer months the polio virus attacks kids randomly. One day you are healthy and playing ball in the park. The next day you are in bed with a cold or fever. The family doctor makes a house call and a diagnosis. The next day G-d forbid you could be transferred to a polio ward at the local hospital.
Parents worry about their children. No playing outside in the summer. No movies. No parties. People were scared. Polio is permanently debilitating or even deadly.
Walter Kolinsky, a kid my age in our building at 1065 Anderson Avenue in the Bronx had a bad cold. But I never confirmed if he ever got sick.
My Boy Scout buddy Michael Kossove at 1085 Anderson Avenue had a bad cold. The doctor visited him at home. Mike recovered and a few days later he was back playing in the street.
Mike continued with his athletic activities and studies. Eventually he became a well-respected and internationally recognized Professor of Microbiology at Touro University in New York City. Mike knows quite a lot about the polio virus. He is married. He has two sons and five grandchildren.
Michael Kossove is Professor Emeritus now. He and his wife Barbara spend serious time at their all-weather summer country home in Sullivan County north of New York City.
Mike is "up in the country" right now. He and Barbara are recovering from the recent blizzard that blanketed New York. In a photo he sent to me he is sweeping (not shoveling) the snow off the front steps of his house. He sports a big smile. He is all bundled up against the cold. On both of his legs and on both of his thighs Mike is wearing enormous steel braces. So he can stand and walk.
Mike's "cold and fever" did not end when the doc left his apartment on Anderson Avenue eighty years ago! Mike was secretly diagnosed with that "scare." The virus lay dormant in his body until his middle age.
But I'll let him tell you the story himself.
Last fall Michael Kossove published a tragic history of the thousands of Childhood Polio Victims and the impact the disease had on their families and friends. He also narrates the surprising and shocking story of the Midlife Victims and Survivors like himself.
Polio: Then, Post-Polio, And The Survivors
Click here: Order from Amazon or from Kindle
The book is easy to read and informative. e.g. The section on FDR.
Mike's prose is dramatic yet sympathetic, scientific yet humane.
Even in the Acknowledgements section, Mike writes with kindness and emotion.
I read his book from cover to cover in a day or two!
Finally, I'll paraphrase my favorite YouTube Classical Music critic Dave Hurwitz,
"Keep Reading!"
Be well my friend,
Jan
PS Mike writes medical related articles for The River Reporter, the Sullivan County newspaper. He is particularly agitated with the current HHS/FDA vaccine policy. He continues to lecture and consult. This c
oming summer Michael plans to write the sequel to his book.
Mike is 88 now. We chat on Zoom. So, I can accurately report that Michael laughs and smiles. And with a measure of grandeur and a touch of audacity, Mike leans back in his commodious cushioned chair .... and smokes a long fat cigar!
