The Journal of infectious diseases
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(See the editorial commentary by Corona and Flores, on pages 177-8.) ⋯ Our findings support the notion that occurrence of MS could be associated with herpes zoster attack. We found a significantly higher risk for MS within 1 year of herpes zoster attack compared with the control population.
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Multicenter Study
Impact of measles eradication activities on routine immunization services and health systems in Bangladesh.
Seroprevalence studies suggest that vaccination coverage of 90%-95% is needed to eliminate measles. In Bangladesh, routine measles vaccination coverage rates have recently reached 80%-85%. The Government of Bangladesh implemented catch-up vaccination through supplementary immunization activities (SIAs). The aim of the present study was to understand the impact of SIAs on immunization services and the health system. ⋯ The SIAs had a positive impact on health and immunization systems and have created a framework on which other health care interventions for bacterial and viral diseases could be based.
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The Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG4) to reduce mortality in children aged <5 years by two-thirds from 1990 to 2015 has made substantial progress. We describe the contribution of measles mortality reduction efforts, including those spearheaded by the Measles Initiative (launched in 2001, the Measles Initiative is an international partnership committed to reducing measles deaths worldwide and is led by the American Red Cross, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the United Nations Foundation, and the World Health Organization). ⋯ Aggressive efforts to prevent measles have led to this remarkable reduction in measles deaths. The current funding gap and insufficient political commitment for measles control jeopardizes these achievements and presents a substantial risk to achieving MDG4.
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Rubella, usually a mild rash illness in children and adults, can cause serious consequences when a pregnant woman is infected, particularly in early pregnancy. These serious consequences include miscarriage, fetal death or an infant born with birth defects (i.e., congenital rubella syndrome (CRS)). The primary purpose for rubella vaccination is the prevention of congenital rubella infection including CRS. ⋯ In addition, three of the six WHO regions established rubella control and CRS prevention goals: Region of the Americas and Europe rubella elimination by 2010 and 2015, respectively, and Western Pacific Region-accelerated rubella control and CRS prevention by 2015. Also, during this time period, the number of rubella cases reported decreased from 670,894 in 2000 to 121,344 in 2009. Rubella control and prevention of CRS can be accelerated by integrating with current global measles mortality reduction and regional elimination activities.
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Supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) using measles-containing vaccine (MCV) have had a substantial impact on reducing mortality associated with measles worldwide. ⋯ SIAs have made a substantial contribution to the success of measles elimination efforts and will likely remain an important strategy for interrupting measles virus transmission in the European Region, although specific approaches will vary by country.