Poliomyelitis and the sources of useful knowledge.

Dr. Richard Ross during his introduction observed that Dr. Bodian made three contributions to the study of poliomyelitis which laid the groundwork essential to the ultimate triumph over the disease by immunization. The first was the identification of three types of poliovirus. This was absolutely basic to the development of a vaccine. The second was the identification of the viremia which occurred before the paralysis began and thus, indicated how it would be possible for an immune response to be effective. The third important contribution was the demonstration that immunity could be developed in primates with very low antibody levels.