By Harry C. Alford & Kay DeBow

Who discovered the cure for polio? In 1952, an American medical researcher named Jonas Salk became the very first person to discover the cure for polio. In April 1955, he announced the medicine, which is basically made up of an injected dose of dead or inactivated poliovirus.

In 1957, American medical researcher Albert Sabin developed an oral vaccine. The drug received a license only in 1962, almost 5 years after its invention. These two vaccines helped removed polio in many different parts of the world. Within the period of 1988 to 2007, the number of cases was trimmed down significantly from 350,000 to 1,652 according to WhoDiscoveredIt.com

These polio vaccines work as they prime the immune system of people with immunogens. By using an infectious agent, they stimulate immune response, the process of which is called immunization. As the immunity to polio developed, these vaccines successfully blocked the transmission of wild poliovirus from one particular entity to another. These important developments were able to protect the recipients of vaccines as well as the general population.

The above led to the cure for Polio which became known as the disease of 20th Century. Today, the world is faced with a similar challenge – COVID 19 which has become the plague of the 21st Century. There were times when it seemed hopeless. The biggest problem was the lack of communication and adequate presentation in searching for the cure.

We remember going to elementary school where a certain percentage of our classmates came via assistance from a friend/relative pushing a wheelchair. Those days are long gone. But the current pandemic has rattled our faith and nerves.

There is no treatment for COVID-19 currently. Health officials say some specific drugs are in development for treatment, but more research is needed.

Most people infected with the coronavirus will experience mild respiratory symptoms and can recover at home, but those with underlying conditions (diabetes or heart disease) will need to be hospitalized. Like the Hong Kong flu of 1969, it is primarily fatal to those over the age of 65.

It appears that a cure for COVID 19 is about to become reality. Scientists and medical centers are busy at forming introductory trials. The Senate, House of Representatives and Cabinet officials are busy trying to reach a conclusion. As we eventually discovered the cure for the plague of the 20th Century, we will follow in like fashion and stop this deadly menace to our society.

The meddling and avaricious behavior of the Republic of China and lesser known governments has “fanned the flames” of outrage. Tensions at the United Nations, the World Health Organization, CDC, and other entities are causing financial stress and political turmoil. Will chaos return and suffering extend for future decades – wasting thousands of lives and economically shattering families?

It is so hard to believe that 3,000 deaths are being experienced every day with no end in sight. Hold on, there seems to be hope coming from our American government. There are confident predictions that a cure for COVID 19 is months -if not- weeks away. Trials are starting to take form and worldwide optimism is forming a foundation. It is important that we keep good historical records and be able to assign proper accountability to the culprit and bandit nations that allowed such an atmosphere to exist in our modern world.

There are lessons to be learned and people or governments be held accountable. May the punishment be severe to those careless entities and a hard lesson served for those who were frivolous, egregious, and deadly reckless with the health of our precious world as it is said of China. Our government and international groups say the virus was created in a lab. But whether it was created in a lab or came from a bat in a wet market in Wuhan, the Chinese government tried to hide its existence by disappearing doctors who spoke out. They denied that the virus could be transferred from person to person as they continued to allow hundreds of thousands of their citizens travel the world. They would not allow American doctors into their country to assist. And the result is a world pandemic.

What followed the use of Mustard Gas, Anthrax and other plagues and/or diseases was world war. Hopefully, we will not have a similar result with equal calamity. The closing of our businesses and economy is calamity enough. We’ve not tried this before, not even during the Hong Kong flu which hospitalized hundreds of thousands of Americans and killed 1 million people worldwide according to the Centers for Disease Control.

God has given us only one earth and we must be great stewards of our environment and the physical health of our fragile population. Let us pray for the success of these future discoveries and the wellbeing of our universe.

Mr. Alford is the Co-Founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. Ms. DeBow is the Co-Founder, Executive Vice President of the Chamber. Website: www.nationalbcc.org emails: halford@nationalbcc.org kdebow@nationalbcc.org