The program speaker at our October 18th meeting, Rotarian Kim White, reminded us that until very recently polio was a very dreaded and feared disease, now largely eradicated due to vaccination.
Several months ago, we decided the proceeds from the raffles held at our club meetings would be donated to The Rotary Foundation Polio Plus Fund on World Polio Day 2022. Those funds, along with additional donations from several members, totalled USD 1,000, donated to the Polio Plus Fund on October 24, 2022.
Sadly, polio paralysis cases have recently been diagnosed in New York and London, representing the tip of the iceberg of the circulating poliovirus, as evidenced by wastewater testing. An easy-to-understand article from Wired explains what has happened, why and how the problem can be addressed: Polio is Back in the US and UK. Here's How That Happened.