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

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

"Culturally, the Salk vaccine especially, since it eliminated the fear of the most dreaded childhood disease, significantly increased the appreciation of what modern medicine could accomplish," Wilson explained.

From Salon • Mar. 7, 2021

Six years following the introduction of the Salk vaccine, polio was almost eradicated as a major public health problem in the United States.

From Slate • Feb. 9, 2021

With those cells, scientists helped prove the Salk vaccine effective.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot