MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep
April 2023
Since the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) began in 1988, the number of wild poliovirus (WPV) cases has declined by >99.99%. Five of the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions have been certified free of indigenous WPV, and WPV serotypes 2 and 3 have been declared eradicated globally (1).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Sickle cell disease is a public health problem. The WHO has recommended that global management be implemented to reduce mortality and morbidity. Since no comprehensive care programme for bone and joint complications exists, the Caribbean Sickle Cell Disease Center added orthopaedic consultation to screen for and monitor these complications in 1992.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew WHO guidelines for measles outbreak response in measles mortality reduction settings now include reactive vaccination for outbreaks. Here we used surveillance data and vaccine coverage surveys following two mass vaccine campaigns in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to show the impact of reactive vaccination on reducing cases during outbreaks. The number of measles cases reported was collected via the national surveillance system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo new rotavirus vaccines have recently been licensed in many countries. However, their efficacy has only been shown against certain serotypes commonly circulating in Europe, North America, and Latin America, but thought to be globally important. To assess the potential impact of these vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa, where rotavirus mortality is high, knowledge of prevalent types is essential because an effective rotavirus vaccine is needed to protect against prevailing serotypes in the community.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Despite the comprehensive World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) measles mortality-reduction strategy and the Measles Initiative, a partnership of international organizations supporting measles mortality reduction in Africa, certain high-burden countries continue to face recurrent epidemics. To our knowledge, few recent studies have documented measles mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of our study was to investigate measles mortality in three recent epidemics in Niamey (Niger), N'Djamena (Chad), and Adamawa State (Nigeria).
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