Global Polio Eradication: Reaching Every Last Child

Polio is a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person’s spinal cord, causing life-long paralysis or in rare instances, death. The eradication of polio remains an important priority for the CDC and many of its global partners. Over the past 25 years, the number of polio cases reported worldwide has fallen from an estimated 350,000 in 1988 to only 407 in 2013—a decline of more than 99%, but there remains work to be done. This session of Grand Rounds investigated the efforts of those fighting against polio. Specifically, this session highlighted innovative strategies being used in countries affected by insecurity to accelerate immunization and surveillance efforts to ultimately reach every last child and make the world polio free.


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