Armstrong – Table of Contents

career as a bacteriologist. He became prominent as a popular writer of medical science
books for the lay reading public. The reputation he acquired from this activity helped
establish his reputation as an advisor for medical affairs related to poliomyelitis. He
exuded great enthusiasm but he was often uncritical in his judgments of the scientific
merits of research proposed by others. Rivers (2) and Smith (3) had dubious assessments
of his contributions during his association with the Commission and, later, the
Foundation. DeKruif was acquainted with the microbiology research community and
invited investigators to apply for project funding from the influx of funds now available.
Unfortunately, several tragic events were associated with studies financed by the
Commission. In 1935, Drs. William N. Park and Maurice Brodie carried out a
vaccination program that was completely ineffective in providing immunity, and Dr. John
Kolmer used a live vaccine that caused illness and fatalities. These efforts were widely
condemned by the public health practitioners and the scientific community. More benign
fiascos involved the attempts to use chemical blockade to prevent the entrance of
poliomyelitis virus through the nasal membranes, also around 1935-1936. This procedure
had some rationale from laboratory evidence but its application in an epidemic situation
was impractical; the procedure was also doomed to be unsuccessful since the
investigators were unaware at this time of the later establishment of the alimentary tract
as the major portal of entry of the virus into the body. Unfortunately, Armstrong became
involved in one of these attempts to control a polio outbreak (see below).
On September 23, 1937 President Roosevelt called for the creation of the
“National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis” to lead, direct and unify the fight against
polio. On November 22, 1937 Eddie Cantor, the actor-comedian, suggested the name