Ensuring quality and integrity of vaccines throughout the cold chain: the role of temperature monitoring.

Introduction: Vaccines have continually proven their inestimable value to the world through the eradication of smallpox, gains achieved toward a polio-free world, and controlling other vaccine-preventable diseases. Although vaccines require certain temperatures and conditions to maintain their potency, supply chain controls vary greatly at different legs of the global journey. Vaccine manufacture is closely managed, but inconsistencies plague the cold chain when vaccines are shipped and stored in variable conditions.