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: a polio vaccine that contains three serotypes of poliovirus inactivated by treatment with formaldehyde and is administered by intramuscular injection compare sabin vaccine
Examples of Salk vaccine in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In 1954, the first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh as some 5,000 students were vaccinated.
—Lorenzino Estrada, The Arizona Republic, 12 June 2024
But there would not have been a Salk vaccine without the work of Isabel Morgan, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University who discovered three subtypes of the virus and helped develop an experimental vaccine that protected monkeys against polio.
—Alicia Ault, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2024
Initial honorees include scientists Dr. Jonas Salk, developer of the Salk vaccine, and Donald Shiley, inventor of the prosthetic heart valve; Ambassadors Irving Salomon and Julian Nava; Glen Bell Jr., founder of the taco chain bearing his name; and Lee Atwood, head of the Apollo space program.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 July 2023
Other, more advanced polio vaccines designed to supplement the original Salk vaccine have also failed, causing oral polio vaccine viruses to revert to wild-type and become virulent again.
—Nicolas Noulin, Scientific American, 5 May 2021
In this April 1955 file photo, first and second-graders at St. Vibiana's school in Los Angeles are inoculated against polio with the Salk vaccine.
—Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News, 15 Sep. 2022
His own scientific interest will be a continuation of the study that perfected the Salk vaccine and has gone far to wipe out poliomyelitis.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2022
Cold War tensions raised suspicion about the Sabin vaccine, but in 1961, the American Medical Association finally recommended its use over the Salk vaccine.
—Thomas Balcerski, CNN, 11 June 2021
That's also true of polio, which lost its capacity to terrorize the public soon after mass inoculations with the Salk vaccine were launched in the mid-1950s.
—Michael Hiltzik, Star Tribune, 12 May 2021
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Word History
Etymology
Jonas Salk
First Known Use
1954, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near Salk vaccine
Cite this Entry
“Salk vaccine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Salk%20vaccine. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
Salk vaccine
noun
: a polio vaccine that contains inactivated virus
Etymology
named for Jonas Salk died 1985 an American doctor who developed the vaccine
Medical Definition
Salk vaccine
noun
: a polio vaccine that is administered by intramuscular injection and contains the three serotypes of poliovirus inactivated by treatment with formaldehyde compare sabin vaccine
More from Merriam-Webster on Salk vaccine
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about Salk vaccine
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