Vaccines are given to people to protect them against disease. They are also given to reduce transmission of infection, thereby preventing disease even in nonvaccinated persons, and thus protecting communities. The extension of perspective from individuals to their communities is…
Since the late 1970s, childhood immunization has been one of the most effective and cost-effective public health preventive measures for all countries. Amongst low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (a categorization based on income used by World Bank instead of “developing…
In the 20th century, the development, licensing, and implementation of vaccines as part of large, systematic immunization programs, aimed to address health inequities that existed globally. Yet access to vaccines that prevent life-threatening infectious diseases remains unequal among infants, children,…
Europe is composed of a diverse group of countries and the extent of diversity depends on the definition of the boundaries of Europe. The European Union (EU) comprises 27 Member States of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia,…
A strong immunization program is critical to ensure vaccines are given at the recommended ages to all children, adolescents, and adults in the United States. The immunization system in the United States is a public- and private-sector partnership, including federal…
WHY MATERNAL VACCINATION? The term “maternal immunization” has been used to describe vaccination of women prior to, during, and after pregnancy. In this chapter, we use the term maternal immunization to refer to vaccination of women during pregnancy and/or in…
Healthcare personnel (HCP) are at risk of exposure to infectious agents in the workplace setting. The risks and methods of preventing occupational acquisition of infection by HCP have been reviewed. Minimizing the risk of disease acquisition is based on correct…
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL People travel for many reasons, including tourism, business, educational experiences, or to flee from war, famine, or other intolerable situations. In 2019, international tourist arrivals reached 1.4 billion and were predicted by The World Tourism Organization to exceed…
INTRODUCTION Over the past decades, the number of immunocompromised patients has increased rapidly. These patients are vulnerable to several infections against which vaccines exist. New vaccines have been developed such as the subunit zoster vaccine. The two recent pandemics; the…
NEW TECHNOLOGIES NEEDED TO REDUCE IMMUNIZATION LOGISTICS HURDLES Immunization can be described as the process of delivering carefully packaged antigen to the appropriate destination in a vaccine recipient to produce a desired immune response. In this sense, immunization programs are…