How common is Polio? Do I have a good chance of getting it?
Polio is extremely rare. In fact, since 1988, the rate of people getting polio has dropped about 99%. There were over 350k cases in 1988, and that number is now down to around 416. Polio is close to being eradicated. Today, there are only 3 countries in which people have polio. These countries are Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Although this is a huge decrease in incidents, it is still a risk because of people with polio are not careful, the disease could spread, and infect thousands, perhaps millions of people. Polio is most commonly contracted by people under the age of 5, that have not been vaccinated. For this reason, is is only prevalent is developing countries. Development in medicines for polio is still being worked on, but today, more people are concerned about other infectious diseases, such as Ebola.