Salk vaccine

American  

noun

1. a vaccine that contains three types of inactivated poliomyelitis viruses and induces immunity against the disease.

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Salk vaccine Cultural  

1. The first vaccine developed for immunization against poliomyelitis. It is named for Jonas Salk, the twentieth-century American scientist who developed it.

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Etymology

Origin of Salk vaccine

First recorded in 1950–55; named after J. E. Salk

Example Sentences

Acceptance of these vaccines even survived setbacks such as the “Cutter incident” in which a Berkeley manufacturer of the Salk vaccine issued contaminated lots that sickened 40,000 children.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 30, 2022

While there, he witnessed a polio outbreak in the summer of 1955, the year the Salk vaccine became available.

From New York Times • Nov. 5, 2022

The Salk vaccine required three injections, plus a booster, which meant multiple trips to the doctor.

From Washington Post • Jun. 18, 2022

Finally, in the spring of 1955, on the tenth anniversary of Roosevelt's death, the March of Dimes announced the exciting results of the trial, which showed that the Salk vaccine worked.

From Salon • Feb. 21, 2021

Polio, which had kept my parents quarantined indoors during the summers of their childhood, had been conquered by the Salk vaccine.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides