Despite being on the brink of eradication, polio is making a troubling comeback in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan due to fake vaccination records, ineffective vaccines, and logistical missteps. The World Health Organization has repeatedly come close to eliminating the disease, but these challenges are keeping the virus alive.

Editor’s Note: This isn't just a setback for global health efforts—it's a warning. Polio's resurgence shows how fragile progress can be when trust in vaccines breaks down or systems fail. If the world doesn't address these issues quickly, more children could suffer from a preventable disease we were so close to wiping out.

Despite a global campaign launched in 1988 to wipe out polio—mirroring the successful eradication of smallpox—the disease is resurging due to factors like vaccine hesitancy, conflict zones limiting access to vaccinations, and weakened healthcare systems. Health experts warn this backslide threatens decades of progress.

Editor’s Note: This isn’t just a setback for polio eradication—it’s a warning sign about how fragile global health gains can be when politics, misinformation, or infrastructure failures get in the way. If a nearly defeated disease can rebound, it raises questions about our ability to tackle other health crises.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s rising influence in U.S. health policy is contributing to a growing trend where skepticism or refusal of vaccines is becoming more socially accepted. This shift is reflected in recent data showing that exemptions from childhood immunization requirements reached a record high among kindergartners last school year.

Editor’s Note: Vaccine hesitancy has real-world consequences—fewer immunized kids mean higher risks of outbreaks for preventable diseases. With a high-profile figure like Kennedy Jr. lending credibility to anti-vaccine views, this trend could undermine decades of public health progress. It’s a story that affects parents, schools, and communities nationwide.

The CDC reports that fewer kids are getting vaccinated, which is concerning because diseases like measles are making a comeback in the U.S.

U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates dipped slightly last year, while the number of children granted exemptions from vaccines hit a record high, continuing a concerning trend of declining immunization coverage.

More parents are choosing not to vaccinate their kids, according to new CDC data. The rate of vaccine exemptions for childhood immunizations reached a record high last school year, continuing a worrying trend that started after the pandemic.