Jonas Salk when the Salk vaccine was introduced, polio was considered one of the most frightening public health problems in the world. In the postwar United States, annual epidemics were increasingly devastating. The 1952 U.S. epidemic was the worst outbreak in the nation's history. Of nearly 58,000 cases reported that year, 3,145 people died and 21,269 were left with mild to disabling paralysis, with most of its victims being children. The "public reaction was to a plague", said historian William L. O'Neill. "Citizens of urban areas were to be terrified every summer when this frightful visitor returned." According to a 2009 PBS
Salk of soldiers (fire and maneuver team) forming a fireteam. Salk A salk () is a small military unit led by a senior soldier that is subordinate to an infantry squad. "Salk" is bigger than a lahingpaar ("fire and maneuver team") but smaller than a jagu ("squad"). It is also one of the smallest military formation among the Estonian Ground Force infantry units. It usually consists of three to five soldiers, and may be further subdivided into fire and maneuver teams. A "salk" is composed of two fire and maneuver teams of two soldiers each, as well as a fireteam leader