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Polio outbreak 1950s

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Midland Red

1 of 18  Fri 14th Jun 2013 11:55am  

Moved from another thread :
On 14th Jun 2013 11:23am, morgana said: Take note no curtain kept all the time around the beds. Coventry - Polio strikes 1957
Some very interesting shots in this - thanks Morgana for posting it I'm sure lots of us remember our polio jabs Sad
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
morgana
the secret garden
2 of 18  Fri 14th Jun 2013 12:10pm  

You're welcome, Midland Red, I couldn't have any jabs at the time, I had an illness no specialist had seen before, so I had to have them a lot later in life, which was with a sugar lump Big grin The girl in the film if I'm right was my friend's sister, in the iron lung.
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
dutchman
Spon End
3 of 18  Fri 14th Jun 2013 12:33pm  

The outbreak was the reason for the panic slum clearance programme of 1957. Bad housing and poor sanitation were blamed for the outbreak but many interesting and historical buildings were destroyed at the same time Sad
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
morgana
the secret garden
4 of 18  Fri 14th Jun 2013 12:50pm  

Thank you Dutchman for that extra information, shame such buildings got knocked down, I guess they see it cheaper to knock down and rebuild rather than renovate lovely historical buildings. Do you know if that is Bell Green shopping centre in the photo where the children are skating, doesn't it look better there than now if it is.
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
woodford
coventry
5 of 18  Sat 15th Jun 2013 8:57pm  

This is a very interesting piece of film, thanks Thumbs up It brought back memories of Whitley Hospital. In the early sixties I spent a week in one of the isolation rooms there, with meningitis. It was an awful experience, but I'm thankful that they saved my life! Oh my
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
morgana
the secret garden
6 of 18  Sun 16th Jun 2013 9:20am  

Wave You're welcome, Woodford, not a nice illness, pleased you're still with us thanks to Whitley Hospital.
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
TonyS
Coventry
7 of 18  Mon 17th Jun 2013 10:13am  

On 15th Jun 2013 8:57pm, woodford said: ....In the early sixties I spent a week in one of the isolation rooms there....
My father passed away in there. Many years ago wasn't it actually called the "Whitley Isolation Hospital"? Was it purposely built as that, or just used for that purpose? I also can remember not having my "polio jab" - but do recall the "sugar lumps". Smile On a similar subject - I can remember as a small child sitting at the hospital and having several "needle pricks" in the inside of one wrist - and then waiting to see which (if any) caused a reaction. I think this was checking some sort of "immunity" - would this have been polio related? If not - any ideas? Oh my
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
gangan
8 of 18  Mon 17th Jun 2013 10:55am  
Off-topic / chat  

morgana
the secret garden
9 of 18  Mon 17th Jun 2013 12:21pm  

On 17th Jun 2013 10:13am, TonyS said: On a similar subject - I can remember as a small child sitting at the hospital and having several "needle pricks" in the inside of one wrist - and then waiting to see which (if any) caused a reaction. I think this was checking some sort of "immunity" - would this have been polio related? If not - any ideas? Oh my
That was TB, TonyS, as that is what I was tested for when they couldn't solve my illness, if the skin was nt raised after so long you would be ok.
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
Midland Red

Thread starter
10 of 18  Tue 18th Jun 2013 10:08am  

On 17th Jun 2013 10:13am, TonyS said:
On 15th Jun 2013 8:57pm, woodford said: ....In the early sixties I spent a week in one of the isolation rooms there....
My father passed away in there. Many years ago wasn't it actually called the "Whitley Isolation Hospital"? Was it purposely built as that, or just used for that purpose?
Hospital Records Database from the National Archives Thumbs up
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
TonyS
Coventry
11 of 18  Tue 18th Jun 2013 11:45am  

Very interesting Cliff, thank you Thumbs up Curiously, the top section on that page shows Whitley Hospital hasn't closed yet! Oh my
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
Foxcote
Warwick
12 of 18  Tue 18th Jun 2013 12:10pm  

This must be it then? Isolation Hospital, 1934
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
Kaga simpson
Peacehaven, East Sussex
13 of 18  Fri 9th Sep 2016 2:30pm  

Just found this topic. Yes, nearly all kids in Coventry, including me, spent time in that hospital with ? they came and fumigated the room I slept in at home. My two brothers moved into my sister's room and she slept downstairs. Must have been 1935/6 time, but polio didn't hit Coventry I believe until the middle or late fifties. Everyone was glad to see the back of the forties, and looked forward to peace and better standard of living in the fifties, and for a time there was more food in the shops but expensive, and employment was picking up, but? There was a great coal shortage, and housewives had to bank the fire with 'slack' and coal dust damped down, to try and retain a little warmth. Then there was the 'power cuts', most days we suffered, many hundreds of meals were spoilt, it got to the point when there were large queues at the Gas showrooms with housewives clamouring to change back to gas ovens. We were also alarmed at the threat of Chinese and Korean intentions, anxiety and unrest, hinting of more atomic bombs, and King Farouk of Egypt was threatening us too so there was unrest and alarm throughout. The people sat staring into the fires as if it would find the solutions. But Littlewoods and Vernons introduced football coupons, that offered vast sums of money for a few shillings a week and the country became gamblers. New chemicals came into place and farmers spread the deadly DDT, and more gardeners became blind from a rose spray for blackspot than was leaked to the public. Then the weather thought it would take a hand too and Europe was lashed with storms. Lymouth was almost washed into the sea, water from the North Sea swamped towns and villages, killing hundreds. But there was also the Youth Hostels, the first of the back packers that I took advantage of and led to many stories you wouldn't believe. Apart from that, the dance halls and cinemas were packed.
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
Old Lincolnian
Coventry
14 of 18  Fri 9th Sep 2016 2:47pm  

I was diagnosed with polio in the outbreak in the fifties by our family doctor but unfortunately she never notified the local authority about me so although I had the treatment, "officially" I never had the disease which meant I had to go on Saturday mornings for the mass vaccinations they held along with hundreds of other terrified kids and parents. I was lucky in that the only real effect it had was difficulty in building muscle - many of the other kids ended up wearing callipers for years or worse in an iron lung. I found out later that couple of years after I was diagnosed our doctor stopped practicing because she kept forgetting things - probably what had happened with me.
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s
Slim
Another Coventry kid
15 of 18  Fri 9th Sep 2016 3:46pm  

When I was a toddler, the welfare clinic found I had one leg slightly shorter than the other, about an eighth of an inch or so, and diagnosed that I had picked up the polio virus. I cannot remember anything about it, but am relying on what my parents told me. I was either treated successfully, and/or my body's natural defences sorted it out, but I made a full recovery, and am perfectly normal now (physically!). I guess I was one of the lucky ones, as I remember that when I was at school, it was not uncommon to see adults in leg irons, callipers, or special built-up shoes because one leg was several inches shorter than the other. I was told that was because of polio.
Local History and Heritage - Polio outbreak 1950s

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