Category: measles

Looking Ahead to a Measles and Rubella Free World

Robert Linkins, MPH, PhD

Vaccines fight diseases and save lives. Think of achievements like smallpox eradication, a polio-free world close at hand, and 2-3 million deaths prevented each year through routine immunizations. Yet despite a safe and effective vaccine against measles and rubella, these deadly viruses continue to steal the health and lives of children all over the world. Read More >

Posted on by Robert Linkins, MPH, PhD1 Comment

Keeping Kids Healthy in Sierra Leone

More than 2.8 million children in Sierra Leone were vaccinated against measles during campaigns in 2016.

Even before the recent Ebola outbreak, the lack of quality healthcare was a major challenge in Sierra Leone, leading to the country suffering some of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world. When a major outbreak strikes, overburdened health systems struggle to take care of other critical health issues, like making sure Read More >

Posted on by Regan Rickert-Hartman and Tushar Singh1 Comment

Measles: A Forgotten, but Formidable Foe

Baby with measles

Since its inception, the CDC has played a major role in advancing the health security in dozens of countries by improving response times to the outbreaks of several vaccine-preventable diseases. Furthermore, its partnerships with other countries and philanthropic organizations have not only stopped outbreaks, but also improved disease surveillance, laboratory science, emergency operations, and health Read More >

Posted on by James L. Goodson, MPH, Senior Measles Scientist at CDC

Stopping Viruses that Don’t Respect Borders

Community Health Volunteers in India

CDC’s Global Immunization Plan In the first seven months of 2016 alone, 13 states reported outbreaks of measles, a highly infectious disease that killed 400 to 500 Americans a year and hospitalized nearly 50,000 more as recent as the 1950s. With the advent of the measles vaccine, routine immunizations, and the federal Children’s Health Insurance Read More >

Posted on by Peter Bloland, DVM, MPVM

Global Immunization: 50 Years of Work, Humanity, and Success

With her head tilted back, the picture depicts a young Nigerian girl, as she was holding her mouth wide open in order to receive her dose of orally-administered polio vaccine. This activity was taking place during Nigeria’s National - Stop Transmission of Polio Program (N-STOP), which is a refined and specialized offspring of two larger programs that train disease detectives: the (international) STOP program, and the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program. N-STOP is a key element in Nigeria’s effort to rid the country of this crippling disease.

This blog was originally posted on MyAJC.com on April 26, 2016. Government is a creature of numbers and statistics, a generator of such vast quantities of data and reports that it’s hard to appreciate sometimes the full human dimension of what it takes to protect everyone from vaccine-preventable diseases. That reality comes to mind as Read More >

Posted on by Rebecca Martin, PhD, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Center for Global Health3 CommentsTags , , ,

Vaccination: Your best shot

World Immunization Week Banner

In 2002, I was in Maracaibo, Venezuela assisting with the investigation of the last measles outbreak in South America when the news arrived: Ministers of health from the region agreed that a synchronized week of vaccination in the hemisphere would help prevent future outbreaks and increase access to immunization for many who would miss this Read More >

Posted on by Carla Lee, MA, Public Health Advisor, CDC Global Immunization DivisionTags , , , , , ,

Toward a World without Measles

There was a time not so long ago that the thought of measles struck genuine fear in people’s hearts. It’s easy to understand why. Measles is so contagious that any child exposed to it who’s not already immune is likely to get the disease. Worse still is that measles is hard to avoid, even for Read More >

Posted on by Stephen L. Cochi, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Advisor to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Global Immunization Division (GID)2 Comments

CDC Celebrates the Role of Artwork in Measles Elimination

Acclaimed illustrator Sophie Blackall visited us at CDC on Monday, April 22, to share insights from her extraordinary collaboration with the Measles & Rubella Initiative.  Her presentation at the World Immunization Week symposium, “Let Every Child Have a Name: the Road to a World Without Measles,” described her journey to the Democratic Republic of the Read More >

Posted on by Linda Elsner, Writer/Editor, Global Immunization Division. 1 CommentTags ,

Protect Your World – Get Vaccinated: World Immunization Week 2013

Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a disease that could be prevented with a safe and effective vaccine. Millions more children survive but are left severely disabled. Vaccines have the power not only to save but also transform lives by protecting against disease—giving children a chance to grow up healthy, go to school, and Read More >

Posted on by Rebecca Martin, PhD, Director of CDC Global Immunization Division3 CommentsTags , , , , , , , , , ,

Child Survival Summit: A time to reflect on global progress and challenges ahead

Improvements in child health are a major focus of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Targets set for 2015 are rapidly approaching, and, much remains to be done to achieve reductions in child mortality. This week’s Child Survival Call to Action in Washington, DC (June 14-15) will address progress achieved and challenges ahead (www.apromiserenewed.org). International Read More >

Posted on by Kevin De Cock, MD, FRCP (UK), DTM&H1 Comment