THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506240377
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LA JOLLA, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Dr. Jonas Salk, the medical pioneer who developed the first vaccine to halt polio's crippling rampage and later tried to devise a treatment for AIDS, died Friday. He was 80.
Salk died of heart failure at Green Hospital of Scripps Clinic in La Jolla at 12:23 p.m., said Anita Weld, a spokeswoman for the Salk Institute. He had been hospitalized earlier in the day complaining of shortness of breath.
Salk spent a lifetime stubbornly pursuing his ideas - first for a polio vaccine and later for a vaccinelike AIDS treatment - even when they drew skepticism from other researchers.
``There have to be people who are ahead of their time,'' Salk once said. ``And that is my fate.''
Working at the University of Pittsburgh in the 1950s, Salk became a hero to millions of Americans when he ignored scientific doubters and used killed viruses to develop the first polio vaccine.
``The world has lost a man who was the symbol of great hope for mankind, whether polio victims or AIDS victims,'' said Bill Otterson, director of San Diego CONNECT, a research group at the University of California, San Diego.
During the first half of the 20th century, epidemics of paralytic poliomyelitis swept the United States repeatedly. Polio viruses infected thousands of Americans annually, causing widespread fear, killing some young victims and condemning many others to iron lungs, leg braces and years of rehabilitation.
Salk's injectable vaccine was declared effective in 1955, and polio's toll plunged. ``What had the most profound effect was the freedom from fear,'' Salk said as he prepared to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the announcement on April 12.
Dr. Albert Sabin's live-virus vaccine - swallowed on a sugar cube - was approved in 1961. Many experts believe it is more effective, and it ultimately gained favor, although Salk's vaccine is still used.
Salk moved to California, where in 1963 he established the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, a San Diego suburb. The institute became a leading biomedical research center.
Salk conducted research on multiple sclerosis and cancer before retiring from his own laboratory in 1984. He continued to maintain offices at the institute and, in 1986, co-founded Immune Response Corp. in Carlsbad to search for an AIDS vaccine.
The vaccine really was a treatment to prevent or delay development of AIDS symptoms in people already infected. Salk also hoped to eventually develop a true vaccine to prevent uninfected people from contracting the deadly virus.
Again, there were doubters. Salk modeled his AIDS vaccine after his polio vaccine, using a killed AIDS virus. Skeptics argued the approach wouldn't work or carried a risk of making patients develop AIDS symptoms.
Early tests seemed to support Salk's approach, although years of research are expected before its effectiveness can be established or disproved.
Salk is survived by his wife and sons, Peter, Jonathon and Darrell. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Dr. Jonas Salk
by CNB