Eradicating polio

The Naked Scientists Podcast

Dr Chris Smith

Science Radio, Engineering, Naked Scientists, Natural Sciences, Technology, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Science

4.6 • 957 Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we're exploring polio: a highly infectious viral disease that can attack the nervous system and cause paralysis, mainly in young children. Polio has been pushed to the brink of elimination thanks to global vaccination efforts - but it still persists. In this episode, we'll look at what polio is, how vaccines have helped control it, where the virus still exists today, and whether it can finally be eradicated... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Transcript

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0:00.0	All engine running.
0:03.5	Absolutely genius.
0:04.5	Welcome.
0:05.3	Welcome.
0:06.2	This is the show where we bring you science.
0:08.0	What that essentially means is discovery.
0:10.2	Advances.
0:11.2	Research.
0:11.8	Technology.
0:12.8	Unbelievable.
0:13.7	Without further ado, this is the naked scientists.
0:17.1	Hello, welcome to the Naked Scientist podcast, the program that brings you the biggest
0:20.9	breakthroughs and also talks to the major movers and shakers in the worlds of science, technology
0:25.5	and medicine. I'm Chris Smith, and this week we're going to be unpacking the efforts to eradicate
0:31.3	polio. For much of the 20th century, polio was one of the most feared diseases in the world.
0:46.0	It's a highly infectious viral illness.
0:48.6	In fact, there are a family of three separate polio viruses,
0:52.1	all capable of invading the nervous system and, in severe cases,
0:55.5	causing permanent paralysis and death, often through problems with breathing caused by respiratory
1:00.9	muscle weakness. This was in fact how the iron lung came into being. At its peak, polio outbreaks
1:07.5	paralysed hundreds of thousands of people every year, including Franklin Roosevelt,
1:11.6	who would go on to become the longest serving US president. Vaccination, however, has since
	...

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