LIMA, OH (WLIO) - The Lima Rotary Club heard an update on the fight against polio.Â
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The Centers for Disease Control is calling on all states to encourage parents to get their kids the needed vaccines for school. The Ohio Department of Health says before the start of the last school year 86.2 % of kindergarteners had the recommended vaccines for them to start school. Which is slightly lower than the year before, and nearly 90% before the pandemic. State health experts say that parents have a lack of fear of diseases like measles, whooping cough, and polio as a threat to children's health.
Today is World Polio Day and Lima Rotarians heard about the fight to eliminate the disease. Internationally, Rotarians have donated more than 2 billion dollars and countless volunteer hours protecting nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries. With it being 99.9% eradicated many may not know what the polio virus can do.
With the announcement of the first confirmed case of polio originating in the United States since 1979, the Lima Rotary Club is marking World Polio Day (October 24) with a social event whose goal is to help eradicate the deadly disease. The club will hold its social night at Purple Feet Wine Boutique, 230 N. Main Street in Lima, on Thursday, October 13 from 5:00-7:00pm. There will be information about polio and Rotary International’s efforts to end the disease.
With kids heading back into the classroom, many schools require that students are immunized for certain diseases. Now is the time to get your children vaccinated. Allen County Public Health offers appointments to get them and they strongly suggest talking with your doctor if you aren't sure about them because they do protect against disease.
With World Polio Day coming up on Oct. 24, the Lima Rotary is revisiting the core mission of Rotary International. The Rotary Club brought in Dr. Susan Hubbell to talk about where society stands with Polio in 2019. She said when Rotary International began fighting Polio in 1979 there were hundreds of thousands of cases. This year there are only 66 cases in two countries. Hubbell said Lima Rotary has been helping with fundraising efforts the last four or five years and are just beginning their campaign this year.