Expert review of vaccines
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The WHO has recently issued updated recommendations for the programmatic use of new-generation typhoid vaccines in high-risk areas of countries where typhoid fever is still endemic. Countries have subsequently been instructed to discuss how these recommendations can be implemented and to develop plans for targeted typhoid vaccination. ⋯ This article reviews past and current typhoid vaccination programs that have taken place in Thailand (using the old whole-cell vaccine) and in China, Vietnam and India (using the new-generation injectable Vi polysaccharide vaccine). This review also describes recent typhoid Vi vaccine demonstration projects that were conducted in five Asian countries.
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Expert review of vaccines · Dec 2007
ReviewSurvey of vaccine distribution and delivery issues in the USA: from pediatrics to pandemics.
Vaccine distribution and delivery has become an issue of significant interest, given the threat of a pandemic influenza outbreak and the resulting need for coordinated efforts to distribute and deliver pandemic influenza vaccines into the hands of healthcare workers responsible for administering them. This review provides an overview of the issues that are most relevant to vaccine distribution and delivery, including routine pediatric immunization, combination vaccines, vaccine shortages and stockpiling, seasonal influenza vaccines and, of most current interest, a discussion on pandemic influenza outbreak issues and a list of future distribution and delivery challenges that may be faced during such an event.
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Expert review of vaccines · Aug 2007
ReviewHeterologous boost vaccines for bacillus Calmette-Guérin prime immunization against tuberculosis.
The current tuberculosis (TB) epidemic continues to call for the development of effective vaccination strategies. The initial TB vaccine research effort mostly focused on the search for a vaccine that might be better than, and thus could replace, the current bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine. ⋯ Mounting experimental evidence suggests that recombinant vaccines, including both recombinant protein and genetic vector vaccines, are effective in boosting immune activation and protection by BCG vaccination. This review will discuss recent advances and the authors' views in the development of there boost vaccines.
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Expert review of vaccines · Apr 2007
ReviewDevelopment of a mucosal vaccine for influenza viruses: preparation for a potential influenza pandemic.
Highly pathogenic avian H5N1 influenza A virus has caused influenza outbreaks in poultry and migratory birds in Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe, and there is concern that it could cause a new pandemic. This fear of an emerging pandemic of a new influenza strain underscores the urgency of preparing effective vaccines to meet the pandemic. One way to mitigate current concerns is to develop an influenza vaccine that is fully functional against drift influenza viruses. In our current situation, in which we cannot predict which strain will cause a pandemic, cross-protective immunity using potential and novel mucosal vaccines plays a particularly important role in preventing the spread of highly pathogenic influenza virus.