Armstrong – Table of Contents

but definite risk of paralytic disease (1:2,400,000 cases) occurred when some of the virus
regained the ability to invade the central nervous system. In 2000 (4), the Centers for
Disease Control (C.D.C.), the American Committee for Immunization Practices
(A.C.I.P.), and other interested organizations recommended a return to the injected Salk-
type vaccine for primary immunization, reserving oral vaccine for persons exposed to
virulent strains re-introduced into the United States, and for areas in other countries
where polio is endemic.
With its original fight against polio largely accomplished, the National
Foundation changed its name in1979 to the “March of Dimes” (5) to honor that effort.
“The current programs include campaigns to improve the health of pregnant women,
mothers and women of child-bearing age; provide education about birth defects, genetics
and nutrition to health professionals; and fund research that will help save babies’ lives.
In 2000, the organization provided $36.1 million for research” (5).
The above outline of major events in the history of poliomyelitis is intended to
provide a chronological frame of reference for Charles Armstrong’s research in
poliomyelitis. The creation of the President’s Birthday Ball Commission, the March of
Dimes and the incorporation of the National Foundation provided the financial means to
support and provide generous funds for research and patient services. In 1935, the
Birthday Ball Commission formed a Special Research Advisory Committee for the
purpose of making grants to medical investigators. The Committee consisted of Dr. Max
Peet, a neurosurgeon, Dr. Donald Armstrong, a vice-president of Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company, Dr. George McCoy, former Director of the Hygienic Laboratory
(now the NIH), and Paul DeKruif, the popular medical-science writer who had become