[Polio vaccines, eradication and posterradication]. / Vacunas antipoliomieliticas, erradicación y posterradicación.

Vaccination against polio generates herd immunity (both with the attenuated (OPV) and inactivated (IPV) vaccines) and this will allow the eradication of the disease. The OPV vaccine produces 2-4 polio cases per cohort of one million children and therefore IPV is used in countries that can afford its cost (about 15 times more expensive than OPV). In 1988 the World Health Assembly established the polio eradication goal as "interruption of wild poliovirus transmission". If the elimination of wild poliovirus were achieved, the use of OPV will produce annually between 250 and 500 cases of polio in the world. From 1999, it was clear that eradication would require ending of immunization with OPV. On the 25th of January, 2013 it is approved the plan for the eradication and containment of all polioviruses, wild or not, so that no child suffers paralytic poliomyelitis. The most important landmarks include the lack of wild polio cases after 2014, the introduction of at least one dose of IPV in all immunization programs and to cease the type 2 OPV vaccination by the end of 2016 and to stop the use of the oral bivalent vaccine in 2019. To achieve all this, a complex scientific work and economic solidarity will be required.

Influenza virus epidemiological surveillance in Argentina, 1987-1993, with molecular characterization of 1990 and 1993 isolates

This report describes findings from epidemiological surveillance of influenza virus in two cities in Argentina (Mar del Plata and Córdoba) from 1987 to 1993. It includes information on reporting and serologic characterization of isolated influenza viruses. In addition, determination was made of the nucleotide sequences of the HA1 subunits of five type A (subtype H3) viral strains isolated in the epidemics of 1990 and 1993. The incidence of illness, type of viruses isolated, and H gene sequences were similar to what has been reported from other parts of the world during the same period. The H3 strains isolated in the 1990 and 1993 seasons were somewhat removed in their molecular characteristics from the strains the World Health Organization recommended for vaccines for those years, and appeared closer to the strains recommended for vaccination in subsequent seasons

Influenza virus epidemiological surveillance in Argentina, 1987-1993, with molecular characterization of 1990 and 1993 isolates / Vigilancia epidemiológica de los virus de gripe en la Argentina, 1987­1993, y caracterización molecular de los aislados en 1990 y 1993

This report describes findings from epidemiological surveillance of influenza virus in two cities in Argentina (Mar del Plata and Córdoba) from 1987 to 1993. It includes information on reporting and serologic characterization of isolated influenza viruses. In addition, determination was made of the nucleotide sequences of the HA1 subunits of five type A (subtype H3) viral strains isolated in the epidemics of 1990 and 1993. The incidence of illness, type of viruses isolated, and H gene sequences were similar to what has been reported from other parts of the world during the same period. The H3 strains isolated in the 1990 and 1993 seasons were somewhat removed in their molecular characteristics from the strains the World Health Organization recommended for vaccines for those years, and appeared closer to the strains recommended for vaccination in subsequent seasons

En este informe se describen los resultados de la vigilancia epidemiológica de virus de gripe en dos ciudades de la Argentina (Mar del Plata y Córdoba) de 1987 a 1993. Se incluye información acerca de la notificación y la caracterización serológica de los virus aisaldos. Además, se determinaron las secuencias de nucleótidos de las subunidades HA1 de cinco cepas tipo A (subtipo H3) aisladas durante las epidemias de 1990 y 1993. La incidencia de enfermedad, los tipos de virus aislados y las secuencias genéticas H fueron similares a las notificaciones del mismo período en otras partes del mundo. En sus características moleculares, las cepas H3 aisladas en las estaciones de 1990 y 1993 se distinguían un poco de las cepas que la Organización Mundial de la Salud recomendó incluir en las vacunas de esos años y se parecían más a las cepas recomendadas para vacunación en estaciones subsecuentes