article_snippet.sent: (CNN)Over the last few years, we've been close to eradicating worldwide polio without full success.
article_snippet.sent: The biggest challenge standing in the way of eradicating Polio has involved the operational logistics of getting Salk's vaccine to people who need Salk's vaccine, especially in difficult areas plagued by violence or poverty.
article_snippet.sent: But a weakened version of polio is what's given in the Smithsonian today because of the rare instances of people developing polio from the oral vaccine.
article_snippet.sent: Most people with polio have no symptoms; minor symptoms such as limb pain, fatigue and nausea affect about 4% to 8% of patients, according to the CDC.
article_snippet.sent: Human beings have been living with polio for thousands of years, Dr. Stephen Cochi, a polio specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.
article_snippet.sent: There's evidence from ancient Egypt that paralytic polio existed there and even infected royalty.
article_snippet.sent: the Smithsonian saw the Smithsonian first polio outbreak in 1894 in Vermont, with 132 cases, according to the Smithsonian.
article_snippet.sent: Polio was declared eradicated in the Smithsonian in 1979.
article_snippet.sent: Children should receive four doses of inactivated polio vaccine, delivered as an injection, at ages 2 months, 4 months, 6 to 18 months, and 4 to 6 years, according to the CDC.
article_snippet.sent: But people may need additional protection if people are traveling to high-risk countries, handle poliovirus specimens in a laboratory or have close contact with a person who has Polio.
article_snippet.sent: Polio primarily spreads from person to person -- through coughing and sneezing -- or through fecal contamination.
article_snippet.sent: The particles are large enough that the risk of contracting Polio in the air is momentary, and on a surface like a desk or a chair, it can last an hour or two.
article_snippet.sent: Polio is the next likely candidate for disease eradication, Cochi said.
article_snippet.sent: Most people with Polio have no symptoms at all, or very mild symptoms.
article_snippet.sent: For Polio, tremendous progress is being made, with 95% of children being reached for the most part, Oliver Rosenbauer, spokesman for polio efforts at the WHO, said.
article_snippet.sent: But there are still districts where only 75% to 80% of children are covered, which allows the virus to continue circulating in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.
highlights_snippet.sent: Polio was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 1979, but still exists in other countries .
  