Polio and post-polio syndrome
A health worker makes a mark on the door of a house after vaccinating the children of the family during a polio campaign in the old part of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Gunmen on Tuesday targeted members of polio teams in eastern Afghanistan, killing a number of staffers, officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Attacks target polio teams in east Afghanistan, 5 killed

By Kathy Gannon And Tameem Akhgar Jun. 15, 2021 03:15 AM EDT

FILE- In this Sept. 20, 2019 photo, a baby gets an oral anti-polio vaccine during the launch of a campaign to end the resurgence of polio after health authorities confirmed a polio case in the country in Quezon city, Philippines. A polio outbreak in the Philippines has ended, according to the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund, Friday June 11, 2021 which praised government efforts to fight the disease despite the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
WHO, UNICEF declare end of polio outbreak in the Philippines

Jun. 11, 2021 09:05 AM EDT

This photograph of a computer screen during a virtual interview on April 9, 2021, shows Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, right, as he sits with his wife Fran DeWine while she holds a printed copy of the Yellow Springs News issue page from April 28, 1955 that shows DeWine as a then second-grader, while receiving his polio vaccination. Tens of millions of today's older Americans lived through the polio epidemic, their childhood summers dominated by concern about the virus. Some parents banned their kids from public swimming pools and neighborhood playgrounds and avoided large gatherings. Some of those from the polio era are sharing their memories with today's youngsters as a lesson of hope for the battle against COVID-19. Soon after polio vaccines became widely available, U.S. cases and death tolls plummeted to hundreds a year, then dozens in the 1960s, and to U.S. eradication in 1979.(AP Photo/Dan Sewell)
Polio: When vaccines and re-emergence were just as daunting

By Dan Sewell Jun. 07, 2021 08:37 AM EDT

Shabana Maani, gives a polio vaccination to a child in the old part of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 29, 2021. Afghanistan is inoculating millions of children against polio after pandemic lockdowns stalled the effort to eradicate the crippling disease. But the recent killing of three vaccinators points to the dangers facing the campaign. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghans work to stem polio rise amid violence, pandemic

By Rahim Faiez Apr. 08, 2021 02:08 AM EDT

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, March 29, 2021. Despite a steady rise in coronavirus cases, Pakistan on Monday launched a five-day vaccination campaign against polio amid tight security, hoping to eradicate the crippling children's disease this year. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan launches anti-polio drive amid surge in coronavirus

Mar. 29, 2021 08:52 AM EDT

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, March 29, 2021. Despite a steady rise in coronavirus cases, Pakistan on Monday launched a five-day vaccination campaign against polio amid tight security, hoping to eradicate the crippling children's disease this year. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan launches anti-polio drive amid surge in coronavirus

Mar. 29, 2021 08:36 AM EDT

A healthcare worker administers a polio vaccine to a child in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Despite a steady rise in coronavirus cases, Pakistan on Monday launched a five-day vaccination campaign against polio amid tight security, hoping to eradicate the crippling children's disease this year. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan launches new anti-polio drive amid tight security

By Munir Ahmed Jan. 11, 2021 03:29 AM EST

FILE - In this July 13, 2019, file photo, health workers wearing protective suits tend to an Ebola victim kept in an isolation tent in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo. The task of vaccinating millions of people in poor and developing countries against COVID-19 faces monumental obstacles, and it's not just a problem of affording and obtaining doses. Rumors flew about the Ebola vaccines, including the idea they were meant to kill people, said Dr. Maurice Kakule, an Ebola survivor who worked in vaccination campaigns. Similar suspicions are spreading about the COVID-19 vaccine, he said. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
Wars, instability pose vaccine challenges in poor nations

By Kathy Gannon, Andrew Meldrum And Lee Keath Dec. 27, 2020 02:08 AM EST

A trail path is covered in leaves Oct. 11, 2020, in St. Francis, Wis. In the era of coronavirus, AP journalist Carrie Antlfinger kept thinking about death. So she decided to explore its meaning and how she and those around her perceive it. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)
ESSAY: Contemplating death in a year when it feels closer

By Carrie Antlfinger Nov. 01, 2020 05:00 AM EST

President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Omaha, Neb., Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Biden vows to unify and save country; Trump hits Midwest

By Will Weissert, Alexandra Jaffe And Aamer Madhani Oct. 27, 2020 12:15 AM EDT

Houston sampling wastewater to track spread of COVID-19

By Juan A. Lozano Sep. 24, 2020 05:43 PM EDT
HOUSTON (AP) — Results from a program that’s testing Houston’s wastewater to monitor the local spread of the coronavirus have shown that it could be a faster...

FILE - In this Wednesday April 24, 2013 file photo, a Somali child receives a polio vaccine, at the Medina Maternal Child Health center in Mogadishu, Somalia. The World Health Organization says a new polio outbreak in Sudan is linked to an ongoing vaccine-sparked epidemic in Chad - a week after the U.N. health agency declared the African continent free of wild polio virus. In a statement Wednesday, Sept. 2020, WHO said two children in Sudan - one from South Darfur state and the other from Gedarif state, close to the border with Ethiopia and Eritrea - were paralyzed in March and April. Both had been recently vaccinated against polio. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, file)
UN says new polio outbreak in Sudan caused by oral vaccine

By Maria Cheng Sep. 02, 2020 04:46 AM EDT

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 24, 2013 file photo, a Somali baby receives a polio vaccine at the Medina Maternal Child Health center in Mogadishu, Somalia. Health authorities on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020 are expected to declare the African continent free of the wild poliovirus after decades of effort, though cases of vaccine-derived polio are still sparking outbreaks of the paralyzing disease in more than a dozen countries. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
Africa now free of wild poliovirus, but polio threat remains

By Cara Anna Aug. 25, 2020 05:54 AM EDT

A health worker gives a polio vaccine to a child at a slum area in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Pakistani government launched an anti-polio vaccination campaign in an effort to eradicate the crippling disease affected children. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan launches anti-polio drive as COVID-19 cases decline

By Munir Ahmed Aug. 15, 2020 07:27 AM EDT

A health worker walks through narrow street fill with sewage water as she approaches a house to administer a polio vaccination, in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Pakistan resumed vaccinations against polio, months after the drive against this crippling children's disease was halted because the novel coronavirus had overwhelmed the country's health system. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan wraps up anti-polio drive amid surge in cases

Jul. 24, 2020 11:48 AM EDT

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, second from right, listens to reporters questions during a press conference held in Hong Kong, Sunday, July 19, 2020. Lam introduced renewed anti-virus measures Sunday, saying the southern Chinese city's situation is "really critical" and adding that she sees "no sign" that it's under control. The new restrictions make mask wearing mandatory in any public place including inside buildings, and put non-essential civil servants back to work at home. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
The Latest: S. Korea has smallest rise in cases in 2 months

By The Associated Press Jul. 19, 2020 02:00 AM EDT

An online post by SinoPharm shows pictures of workers it says got vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine candidate and the words "Giving a helping hand in forging the sword of victory." In the global race to make a coronavirus vaccine, the state-owned Chinese company is boasting that it gave its employees, including top executives, experimental shots even before the government OK'd testing in people. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Chinese executives get 'pre-test' injections in vaccine race

By Sam Mcneil And Lauran Neergaard Jul. 16, 2020 01:10 AM EDT

Excerpts from recent South Dakota editorials

By The Associated Press Jun. 23, 2020 07:36 PM EDT
Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, June 19 Lessons learned after 100 days of COVID-19 in South Dakota This week marked 100 days...

FILE - In this March 16, 2020 file photo, a health worker gives a polio vaccine to a child in Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistan’s army chief has told Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates that despite the challenge of COVID-19, Pakistan plans to restart polio vaccination campaigns across the country. The military said late Wednesday, June 10, that Gen. Qamer Javed Bajwa spoke by phone with Gates who has worked to try and eradicate polio worldwide. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)
Pakistan army chief says anti-polio campaign to restart soon

Jun. 11, 2020 04:02 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 16, 2020 file photo, a health worker gives a polio vaccine to a child in Lahore, Pakistan. For millions of people who live in poor and troubled regions of the world, the novel coronavirus is only the latest epidemic. They already face a plethora of fatal and crippling infectious diseases: polio, Ebola, cholera, dengue, tuberculosis and malaria, to name a few. The diseases are made worse by chronic poverty that leads to malnutrition and violence that disrupts vaccination campaigns. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)
COVID-19 just the latest epidemic in areas struck by disease

Kathy Gannon Jun. 10, 2020 02:21 AM EDT