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Articles on March of Dimes

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Maternal and infant health crises are growing worse in the U.S. LWA/Dann Tardif/Digital Vision via Getty Images

US preterm birth and maternal mortality rates are alarmingly high, outpacing those in all other high-income countries

A March of Dimes report gave the US a grade of D+ for maternal and infant health care, highlighting that the national preterm birth rate hit 10.5% in 2021, a record 15-year high.
For much of the 20th century, Americans were used to seeing people bearing the signs of past polio infection. Genevieve Naylor/Corbis via Getty Images

‘Got polio?’ messaging underscores a vaccine campaign’s success but creates false sense of security as memories of the disease fade in US

Polio vaccines have been a massive public health victory in the US. But purely celebratory messaging overlooks the ongoing threat if vaccination rates fall.
President and Mrs. Roosevelt enjoying after-luncheon conversation with patients of the Warm Springs Foundation. Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images

What FDR’s polio crusade teaches us about presidential leadership amid crisis

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s personal battle with polio, and his steady hand while overseeing a national eradication campaign, highlights decisive leadership against a virus that terrified America.
An emergency polio ward in Boston in 1955 equipped with iron lungs. These pressurized respirators acted as breathing muscles for polio victims, often children, who were paralyzed. www.apimages.com

The deadly polio epidemic and why it matters for coronavirus

Polio was nearly eradicated with the Salk vaccine in 1955. At the time, little was known about this mysterious disease that paralyzed and sometimes killed young children.

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