abstract prevention of infectious diseases by immunization in children has markedly diminished the morbidity and mortality of once common contagious diseases in many countries worldwide. immunization programs have led to the global eradication of smallpox, elimination of measles and poliomyelitis in regions of the world, and substantial reduction in the morbidity and mortality attributed to dip...

For Australia to be declared polio free, evidence of the absence of circulation of wild poliovirus was required by the Regional Commission for the Certification of Eradication of Poliomyelitis in the Western Pacific in August 2000. Data on surveillance of poliomyelitis, acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), vaccine associated paralytic polio and enteroviruses were provided to document the absence of c...

     Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious viral disease which is mainly transmitted via contaminated food and drinking water by human feces, especially in situations of poor hygiene and sanitation (1). This disease is caused by 3 types of wild poliovirus (WPV) (types 1, 2 and 3), and immunity against one type does not create immunity against other types. In our country according National Immuni...

In 1960, Austria initiated diplomatic relations across the Iron Curtain to explore possibility of ordering oral polio vaccine (OPV) produced in Soviet Union. The live attenuated promised enhance immunity communities and was both easier administer much cheaper than inactivated (IPV). American scientist Albert Sabin his Russian ally Mikhail Chumakow had tested new large field trials USSR at end 1...

Discussion It is not easy to reconcile these findings with those obtained in the early days of diphtheria immunization when F.T. was extensively used with definite clinical success. It is possible that the reason for the poor immunizing action of the present-day F.T. is the fact that it is prepared in a highly purified form, whereas the F.T. used in the early days undoubtedly contained many imp...

As multiple papers within this special issue illustrate, the dynamics of disease eradication are different from disease control. When it comes to disease eradication, 'the last mile is longest'. For social and ecological reasons such as vaccine refusal, further ending incidence of a disease when it has reached low levels is frequently complex. Issues of non-compliance within a target population...