Story highlights Salk's vaccine began with inoculating school children in April, 1955

Polio was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 1979, but still exists in other countries

A new microneedle patch is easily used by minimally trained personnel

(CNN) Over the last few years, we've been close to eradicating worldwide polio without full success. However, a new medical technology, an easily applied microneedle patch, could be the key to that goal.

The biggest challenge standing in the way of eradicating polio has involved the operational logistics of getting the vaccine to people who need it, especially in difficult areas plagued by violence or poverty.

The microneedle patch, which resembles a small, round adhesive bandage, could bring polio vaccines to the doorsteps of the people that need it. By applying it to the skin and pushing down, the vaccine is delivered in a matter of minutes. Rather than requiring highly trained medics, minimally trained personnel could go from door to door, quickly administering the vaccine.

It's been 60 years since a mass inoculation of Jonas Salk's vaccine began with school children in April, 1955 that caused polio cases in the United States to drop by almost 90% over the course of two years. The vaccine was eagerly awaited because, according to the CDC, about 35,000 people annually became disabled because of polio in the U.S. in the 1940s and '50s.

In 1938, Roosevelt founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, an organization known today as the March of Dimes Foundation, to fight polio. The organization funded the two vaccines -- one created by Salk and another by Albert Sabin -- that would lead to the protection of most of the world against polio.

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