From 350k to just 37 cases in 2016: Inching closer to a world without polio

The number of polio cases globally dropped from 350,000 in 1988 to just 37 in 2016

At its height in the 1940s and ‘50s, polio paralyzed more than 35,000 Americans every year. But thanks to vaccines as well as good hygiene and sanitation practices, polio has largely been forgotten in the developed world.

Now, even in less-developed regions, it’s close to being wiped out entirely. But there are still challenges to overcome before polio can join smallpox as a virus that has been eradicated worldwide.

With the support of the World Health Organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (a strategic partner of The Conversation US that provides funding for The Conversation