The polio vaccine has all but obliterated the illness that once killed thousands and paralyzed 15,000 people nationwide every year.

The polio vaccine has all but obliterated the illness that once killed thousands and paralyzed 15,000 people nationwide every year.

Potential polio complications While most people recover from this highly contagious disease, others may develop serious complications from the polio virus.

The expansion of wastewater monitoring comes amid pressure to increase efforts to fight the disease after the first U.S. polio case in nearly a decade was discovered in July.

A nationwide immunization campaign backed by UNICEF and partners kicked off this month in Pakistan, one of the last two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic.

But polio is one of the world's most infectious diseases and is still spreading in a small number of countries. The WHO and its partners want to eradicate polio in the next few years.

I learned about polio in medical school as a disease of history. When it was at its peak in the 1940s and early 1950s, parents were terrified that their children would be among the tens of ...

Polio is a dreadful disease and when it knocks, its effect is immediate and never leaves an individual. Vaccination is the only defence against the viral disease.

Polio has been around since ancient times and recent outbreaks are putting travelers at risk, the CDC says.

Polio was declared officially eradicated in the U.S. in 1979, and there are only two countries left in the world in which the disease is endemic: Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Complications from polio include, numbness or tingling in the legs or arms, paralysis in the limbs or torso, as well as trouble breathing due to muscle paralysis in the lungs, which can lead to death.