ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 6, 1996 TAG: 9607080062
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: Associated Press
Polio is going, going and all but gone.
Polio cases around the world fell in 1995 to an all-time low of 6,197, an 82 percent drop from seven years earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.
And 150 countries now report no cases of the paralyzing disease, the CDC said.
``This is really good news,'' said Dr. Roland Sutter of the CDC's National Immunization Program. ``But we should not be too complacent at this point. We don't know whether there will be surprises lurking in the dark.''
In 1988, there were 35,251 cases of polio worldwide. By 1994, it had dropped to 8,635. Today, more than half the world's cases are in India, where 3,142 people had the disease last year.
The World Health Organization hopes to rid the world of polio by 2000. It has been completely eliminated from North and South America.
Vaccinations are slowing the disease in areas where it remains a danger, especially India and Africa, Sutter said. But health officials are concerned about countries such as Somalia where civil wars have disrupted health care and made vaccine drives difficult.
Sutter hopes those countries will follow Afghanistan, where warring factions agreed to a campaign to immunize 3 million children and 1 million mothers against polio and tetanus.
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB