Category: immunization
Readying the World for Maternal RSV Vaccine
Updated from the original posting on Vaccines Work on February 18, 2019 By getting vaccinated in pregnancy, mothers can safeguard themselves and their infants in the first few vulnerable months of life against certain diseases. This strategy is a powerful approach for reaching two stages of life often underserved by current immunization programs—pregnancy and early Read More >
Posted on byThirty years of a Unique Partnership to End Polio-GPEI
In 1988, CDC joined three other partners (World Health Organization (WHO), United Nation International Children Fund (UNICF) and Rotary International to launch the ambitious Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). The world was a dangerous place with respect to polio. A case of polio occurred every 90 seconds, meaning 350,000 children had paralytic polio every year. Read More >
Posted on byPolio Eradication and Beyond: What the Polio Endgame Means for Public Health
The end of polio is in sight, with fewer cases of wild polio virus being reported yearly. Today, polio is on the cusp of eradication, with cases in only a few high-risk areas of three countries—Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. This brings the eradication effort to its final chapter, otherwise known as the polio endgame. The Read More >
Posted on byStrengthening Immunization in Challenging Settings
Providing routine immunization services is a global public health priority to protect families and children from vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio, measles, and cholera. In South Sudan, the world’s newest country, the need is enormous. Without vaccination, children and their communities may be vulnerable to preventable but deadly and disabling diseases. From 2008 to 2012, Read More >
Posted on byTwo Vaccines for One Polio-free World
Polio was once considered one of the most frightening diseases in the world until a team led by Dr. Jonas Salk developed the first successful polio vaccine. World Polio Day, held every October 24 to celebrate Salk’s birthday, is an opportunity for everyone working to eradicate polio to renew their commitment to creating a polio-free Read More >
Posted on by 6 CommentsPolio Eradication, Microplanning and GIS
Geospatial data have been used in public health since John Snow mapped cholera cases around the Broad Street water pump during the London cholera epidemic of 1854. And, while global positioning system technologies (GPS) are so ubiquitous in the United States that virtually all new smartphones, tablets and cars have this technology embedded, in many Read More >
Posted on by 5 CommentsVaccination: Your best shot
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 >
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