Published in EPI newsletter / c Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas
Through December 11, 1999, a total of 39,941 suspected measles cases were reported from the countries of the Americas. Bolivia is the country most affected by the disease, with 51% of all reported cases in the region (1420 confirmed cases). It has suffered large outbreaks in urban areas due to large pockets of underimmunized populations, despite in...
Published in EPI newsletter / c Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas
In 1999, the Ministry of Health in Chile designed a strategy in order to prevent the occurrence of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) cases. This strategy has three components: 1) a mass vaccination campaign aimed at women aged 10-29 years; 2) strengthening Chile's laboratory diagnostic capabilities for rubella; and 3) the establishment of a surveil...
Published in EPI newsletter / c Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas
One of the major priorities of Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Division of Vaccines and Immunization is to ensure quality vaccines by supporting the implementation and strengthening of National Regulatory Authorities through out the whole region. Regulatory Authority functions are critical considering that several hundreds of thousands of c...
Published in EPI newsletter / c Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas
Since May of 1998 Bolivia has been affected by a measles outbreak, which began in the municipality of Yacuiba, within the department of Tarija. Bolivia reported 1004 confirmed measles cases in 1998, and during the first 40 weeks of 1999 there have been 1218 confirmed cases. About 51% of the total measles cases for 1999 in the Region have been repor...
Published in EPI newsletter / c Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas
The measles outbreaks in Bolivia in 1998 and 1999 are discussed. Following the establishment of the Expanded Program on Immunization in 1979, coverage of measles vaccination has progressively increased. A total of 1836 (81%) cases were confirmed. About 1004 (56%) occurred in 1998 and 832 during the first 29 weeks of 1999. Confirmed cases usually oc...
Published in EPI newsletter / c Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas
Combination vaccines have been introduced in Mexico. The national immunization program has incorporated the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines in 1998, and the pentavalent vaccine in 1999. The two categories of antigen composition in combination vaccines are: 1) multiple different antigenic types of a single pathogen, such as the 23 valent pneumo...
Published in EPI newsletter / c Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas
The 1189 rubella cases in Costa Rica as of July 3, 1999, are presented. The cases include 379 laboratory and 810 clinically confirmed cases. The outbreak reached its peak during weeks 10 and 14, which greatly attacked adults between ages 25 and 34 years. Females showed a greater percentage (56%) of cases. Attack rates for children aged under 4 year...
Published in EPI newsletter / c Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas
The Brazilian government responded to the poliomyelitis outbreak in Angola by organizing a team tasked at implementing measures that would avoid the risk of importation of wild poliovirus to their country. This team is comprised of representatives from the National Health Foundation of the Ministry of Health and a staff from the Pan American Health...
Published in EPI newsletter / c Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas
Ecuador conducted its National Immunization Day on August 2-13, 1999, against 10 vaccine-preventable diseases, and distributed vitamin A supplementation to children between the ages of 6 to 36 months. The goals of the campaign were: 1) indiscriminate vaccination with oral polio vaccine of all children under 5 years old; 2) nationwide introduction o...
Published in EPI newsletter / c Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas
This article reports on the launching of a global polio eradication campaign by WHO. Polio vaccination has intensified in Angola, where a polio outbreak has claimed around 800 victims. The South-East Asian Region is the largest focus of the polio campaign. Three successful National Immunization Days (NIDs) have been conducted in India; however, ong...
