WORLD POLIO DAY IS OCTOBER 24TH

Local Sources- Poliomyelitis, or polio, is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. Poliovirus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in hours. It can strike people of any age but mainly affects children under five. Polio can be prevented by vaccines, but it is not curable. Unlike most diseases, polio can be eradicated.

When Rotary and its partners formed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. Today, Rotary and its partners have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent, and just two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus. Because of the efforts of Rotary and its partners, nearly 19.4 million people who would otherwise have been paralyzed are walking, and more than 1.5 million people are alive who would otherwise have died. The infrastructure Rotary has helped build to end polio is also being used to treat and prevent other diseases (including COVID-19) and create lasting impact in other areas of public health.

“Polio may seem like something in the past here in the United States, but just this year there was a recent detection of the vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 case in New York and several environmental samples were collected in London. This is a stark reminder that the poliovirus is a threat everywhere,” said Deidra Church, Rotary Club of Dubois County’s International Services Director. “While the United States is at low risk, unless we eradicate polio within ten years as many as 200,000 new cases could occur around the world each year. It’s the Rotary Club of Dubois County’s goal to help educate our community on the poliovirus and its impact.”

The Rotary Club of Dubois County encourages community members to take three minutes to complete three actions in honor of World Polio Day by visiting www.endpolio.org:

1. Learn: Get informed and help make polio a subject of conversation in our community.

2. Share: Most people have heard of polio but few know that the disease still affects children around the world. Help by spreading the word!

3. Donate: Every donation to Rotary International’s End Polio fund is tripled, thanks to Bill and Melinda Gates.