Editorial: The Plight of Pakistani Polio Workers

Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus. The illness, which spreads from person to person, usually affects unimmunized children under five years of age. Initially the affected child develops symptoms of fever, weakness and diarrhea. In a subset of children, the illness can cause permanent paralysis and may even prove fatal. In the past, polio disease used to affect a huge number of children around the world. Thanks to a robust global response against the illness, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, this number decreased drastically. For
comparison, in 1988 there were 350,000 cases of polio which dropped to just 33 in 2018. That is a reduction of 99 percent.