> AFAIK the only place where it remains endemic is Baluchistan in Pakistan

In 2017 there have been 13 wild cases in Afghanistan, 8 in Pakistan and it's still considered endemic in Nigeria (last known case in August 2016)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poliomyelitis_eradication#2017

well last time they claimed to be giving vaccines in pakistan it was to collect genetic information against a us target.

It wasn't the last time. Pakistan is an extremely large nation with 40+ years of substantial vaccination efforts by the US and West in general. It'd be fair to say that at least 99.9% of that effort was entirely innocent.

The CIA doing what it did should have never happened obviously. That simultaneously doesn't excuse non-vaccination, which is extraordinarily inexpensive and could be performed by Pakistani government persons as a compromise.

> and could be performed by Pakistani government persons as a compromise.

Political opponents still can frame anyone associated with "being an US puppet"... and for the chemtrail-lovers with an addition of "they're not vaccinating you, they're putting tiny microchips into you". Do note I didn't make up that last one, it literally flew somewhere over my Facebook feed today.

Do you really wanna try to frame the DNA analysis thing as an insane conspiracy theory?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/11/cia-fake-vacci...

The leaders being suspicious of vaccination efforts is a direct link to this activity, please stop making a cheap "THOSE CRAZY KOOKS BELEIVE ANYTHING" style dismissal.

> Do you really wanna try to frame the DNA analysis thing as an insane conspiracy theory?

No. Of course this is real. What I meant was that even using Pakistani staff would not help to restore trust. The CIA really did the world a service...

You're getting downvoted... but this did happen, and is likely to blame for polio's continued presence in western pakistan.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-cia-fake-vacc...

And, let's not diminish this: it's probably to blame for polio existing at all now.

Exactly. It is my belief that the people who ordered this should have their asses dragged in front of the UN and should be tried for crimes against humanity.

You don't mess with vaccinations. Ever.

>Reddit style

Just as much HN style, where top comments frequently bring up old discussions completely unrelated to the article's content (e.g. js article -> js is a mess, blockchain article -> blockchain is a bubble, megacorp article -> this is why i never use megacorp's products)

I've noticed what you pointed out is fairly common especially recently, but it wasn't always the case. Moreover, it's incumbent on us to be better than that so to reverse the trend.

It's not a new problem. The term TFA is at least 18 years old; predates reddit, digg, and maybe even slashdot itself.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=TFA

This is a side discussion, but what a fascinating piece of internet history, I had no idea.

Just came off an 11 month involuntary HN-hiatus and noticed that the level of discourse is markedly lower. Wondering whether it could be quantified over time. Maybe a NLP expert could chime in?

mmm source please