CDC Says Polio Cases Worldwide Dropped to 6,197
Polio cases around the world fell in 1995 to an all-time low of 6,197, an 82% drop from seven years earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.
It said 150 countries now report no cases of the paralyzing disease.
“This is really good news,” said Dr. Roland Sutter of the CDC’s National Immunization Program. “But we should not be too complacent at this point. We don’t know whether there will be surprises lurking in the dark.”
In 1988, there were 35,251 cases of polio worldwide. By 1994 it had dropped to 8,635. Today, more than half the world’s cases are in India, where 3,142 people had the disease last year.
The World Health Organization hopes to rid the world of polio by the year 2000.
Vaccinations are slowing the disease in areas where it remains a danger, especially India and Africa, Sutter said. But health officials are concerned about countries such as Somalia where civil wars have disrupted health care and made vaccine drives difficult.
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