* Poliomyelitis in the Spanish press

Abstract

Background: Vaccination has been one of the most effective preventive measures to reduce the number of diseases that affect humans. The primary objective of this study is to describe the informative treatment of polio in the written press at a time when it was of great importance. Methods: From the digital newspaper archive of the ABC and La Vanguardia newspapers, all the information in which the concept “polio”, published during the period between 1960 and 1975 was selected. Results: In total there have been 961 units of analysis, 557 for the ABC newspaper and 404, for La Vanguardia. The year of greatest publication was the year 1963, coinciding with the authorization for the use of the Sabin vaccine. The need to intensify vaccination campaigns is highlighted as the number of annual cases continued to increase. Conclusions: There are no significant differences in the coverage of the newspaper ABC and La Vanguardia, following a pattern of publication very similar between them, where the Sabin vaccine appears as one of the most important scientific advances, thanks to which they allowed to protect children against to this dreaded disease, thus avoiding a major epidemic.