Vaccine preventable viral diseases in developing countries

There are several viral infectious diseases with a high impact on developing countries which can be prevented by immunization with existing vaccines. The most important are poliomyelitis, measles, hepatitis B and yellow fever. Vaccines against poliomyelitis and measles used within the framework of the WHO/Expanded Programme on Immunization prevent about 1.4 million deaths from measles and 360,000 cases of paralytic polio per year in developing countries, but about 1.5 million measles' deaths and 200,000 cases of paralytic polio still occur. Hepatitis B infection and its sequelae are responsible for over 50 million infections and one million deaths annually. Highly effective hepatitis B vaccines are now available and the price of these vaccines for the developing world has fallen dramatically. Despite the availability of a safe and efficacious yellow fever vaccine since 1937, 5400 cases of this disease with 3200 deaths were reported in Africa and South America from 1986 to 1988. Because of the efficacy of existing vaccines and the lack of animal reservoirs or vectors, systematic vaccination programmes within the framework of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) could theoretically eliminate and even eradicate poliomyelltis, measles and hepatitis B. Many different obstacles need to be overcome before these goals are realized.This paper was presented at the IUMS Symposium on New Developments in Diagnosis and Control of Infectious Diseases held in conjunction with the Eighth International Congress of Virology, Berlin, Germany, 24–31 August 1990.