POLIO: VACCINATION IS KEY TO GLOBAL ERADICATION

POLIO: VACCINATION IS KEY TO GLOBAL ERADICATION

Polio can be prevented through immunization, and since 1988, the World Health Assembly has resolved to eradicate polio worldwide. In just 30 years, the number of polio cases has decreased from an estimated 350,000 in 1988 to just 33 in 2018. However, in 2019 there was a spike in polio cases with 134 being reported in Pakistan alone.

The U.S. has not reported a case of naturally occurring paralytic polio (wild poliovirus) since 1979, when an outbreak occurred among the Amish in several Midwestern states. Over the period spanning 1980 through 1999, 62 confirmed cases of paralytic polio were reported. Eight of these were acquired outside of the U.S. and 154 were vaccine-associated, mostly caused by contact with feces contaminated with the live oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV).

OPV is no longer used as a polio vaccine in the U.S., although several overseas countries still use it. The inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) is now the preferred vaccine.