Vaccine
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We assessed the long-term protection afforded by a killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccine produced in Vietnam. A mass immunization of children and adults with the killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccine was undertaken in half of the communes of Hue, Vietnam, in 1998; the remaining communes were immunized in 2000. ⋯ The overall vaccine effectiveness 3-5 years after vaccination was 50% (9-63%). This low-cost, easily administered vaccine should be considered as a tool for the control of cholera.
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The report of an hypothesised link between measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination and autism in 1998 became a major public health issue in the United Kingdom (UK), leaving most experts surprised by the overwhelming influence it had on public opinion about MMR vaccination. Coverage rates fell dramatically, and did not start to recover until 2004. Could this public reaction have been predicted? ⋯ The Sandman model provided a useful framework to analyse this controversy and explained a significant portion of the community reaction and subsequent fall in vaccination coverage rates.