Polio Exhibit: Dr. Francis & Field Trials

Thomas Francis Jr., M.D.

Thomas Francis Jr., M.D., Director of the U.M. Poliomyelitis Vaccine Evaluation Center, was responsible for conducting the field studies of the Salk polio vaccine.

Dr. Jonas Salk, who created the vaccine, had the following words to say about Dr. Francis on the day of the polio announcement in 1955: "While many like to listen to music -- those who know how a musical score is put together can appreciate the creation of a theme from notes that to others of us are merely disconnected sounds. The unification of the diverse elements that have just emerged in a simple score, and yet so rich in overtones, could have been accomplished only by one of the great masters."

The Francis report was the culmination of a year-long field trial of the Jonas Salk vaccine, unprecedented in its scope and magnitude. Using a double-blind method of statistical analysis, where neither patient nor administering physician knew if the inoculation was the vaccine or a placebo, 440,000 children were given the vaccine and 210,000 the control substance. In addition Francis agreed to a controlled observation trial involving more than 1 million children, participating either as knowing recipients of the Salk vaccine or as non-inoculated children placed under observation for comparison. All told approximately 1,830,000 children in 217 areas of the United States, Canada, and Finland were involved in the field trial.

Front Cover of Summary Report of the Field Trials

As a statistical exercise, the polio field trial was unique in the annals of epidemiological study. Here is just one example of the enormity of the work accomplished by Francis and the Polio Vaccine Evaluation Center. In that era of key-punch cards, Francis and his staff at the University of Michigan produced some 1,800,000 IBM punch cards containing 144,000,000 pieces of information about the test children.

On staff at the Evaluation Center was a small army of statisticians, epidemiologists, and clerical and support personnel. This latter group of more than 100 individuals was responsible for tabulating the data received from public health officials and doctors in the field who were participating in the study. According to University press releases, more than 300,000 individuals participated in the field trials; 20,000 physicians and public health officers, 40,000 registered nurses, 14,000 school principals, and 200,000 volunteer workers.

--Thomas Powers, Bentley Historical Library Exhibit, 1994

References

• Opening pages of the Evaluation of 1954 Field Trial Summary Report.

Photo Credits

• Thomas Francis Jr., M.D.: Thomas Francis Jr., M.D. Papers, Box 65, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
• Summary Report read by Francis: University of Michigan News and Information Services Records, Box 25, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.