polio

News Wrap: Trump appears to downplay chance of U.S. strike on Iran

In our news wrap Friday, President Trump appeared to downplay the chance of a military strike on Iran. U.S. and Saudi officials have pointed to Iran as the culprit in last weekend's attacks on Saudi oil facilities, but Trump said…

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What my polio-stricken mother would tell parents today about the importance of immunization

By Fred Leonard, STAT

The success of immunizations in the U.S., as well as in other developed countries, has had unintended consequences.

3 global health challenges to watch in 2019

By Helen Branswell, STAT

Will the U.S. get a licensed dengue vaccine? Will Sanofi pocket a coveted prize?…

Pakistan’s polio health workers make inroads toward eradication

By Fred de Sam Lazaro

Polio remains prevalent across Pakistan, one of only three countries in the world where the crippling viral disease is endemic. A campaign to dispense vaccinations have helped relieve the crisis, but threats of violence and misinformation from the Taliban are…

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Polio outbreak reported in Syria

By Helen Branswell, STAT

An outbreak of vaccine-related polio cases has been reported in war-torn Syria, the World Health Organization announced Thursday — another hurdle for a nearly 30-year eradication effort that has seen more than its share of setbacks.

In Yemen conflict, preventable diseases are a deadly side effect for children

By Larisa Epatko

Health workers recently fanned across Yemen to vaccinate millions of children against polio, one of the disease risks in a country immersed in conflict.

Photo: Preventing polio in Yemen

By News Desk

A Yemeni child receives polio vaccination during an immunization campaign at a health center in the capital of Sanaa.

D.A. Henderson, who led successful effort to eradicate smallpox, dies

By Helen Branswell, STAT

Henderson, a few weeks shy of his 88th birthday, died late Friday of complications that arose after he recently fractured a hip.

Nigeria launches emergency measures after first polio cases in 2 years

By Emily Wishingrad

Nigerian military helicopters rushed emergency polio vaccines to Nigeria’s northern state of Borno on Friday morning, in response to Africa’s first cases of the polio virus in more than two years.

Polio strain found in India two years after virus declared eradicated

By Kulsoom Khan

Two years after the World Health Organization declared India polio-free, an active strain of the virus has been found in samples of sewage water in the southern city of Hyderabad.