Vaccines in Appalachia: Polio

Vaccines in Appalachia: Polio

What is Polio? The oldest documentation of polio dates back to the time of the ancient Egyptians. Carvings and paintings from that time period show adults and children walking with canes and visibly deformed legs. However, it wasn’t until the 19th century, as medicine was embracing scientific principles of diagnosis and description, that a standardized…

No. 9

It was early in the morning on November 20, 1968 when an explosion rocked the small town of Farmington, West Virginia. It was powerful enough to be felt miles away, in the larger city of Fairmont. Miners and their families lived in fear of the sound of an explosion and the blaring of the alarm…

Appalachian Epidemics: Poverty

Appalachian Epidemics: Poverty

Stereotypes and Reality I’ve debated covering this topic for some time now. I know that this is an important piece of our region’s history. It’s an important driving force behind so many of our epidemics, but I didn’t even know how to begin to attack it. I also wasn’t sure that I wanted to address…

Appalachian Epidemics: Malnutrition

Appalachian Epidemics: Malnutrition

Six-Dollar Grapes In Morgantown there is a very large Kroger which the locals jokingly refer to as “Gucci Kroger”. It has a Starbucks, a huge international food section, aisles of vegan/vegetarian food, healthy meal-prep sections, a large meat and seafood counter, and a variety of organic and locally-sourced dairy and egg products. The produce section…