Noroviruses (NoVs), members of the Calicivirus family, are small, positive-polarity RNA viruses and the most important cause of human foodborne viral gastroenteritis worldwide. These viruses cause gastrointestinal disease, resulting in recurrent bouts of vomiting and diarrhea that typically last 24–48 hours. NoVs are transmitted via the fecal–oral route, most commonly through infected food or w...

Dengue occurrence is partially influenced by the immune status of the population. Consequently, the introduction of a new Dengue virus serotype can trigger explosive epidemics in susceptible populations. The determination of clusters in this scenario can help to identify hotspots and understand the disease dispersion regardless of the influence of the population herd immunity. The present study...

In the African "meningitis belt," outbreaks of meningococcal meningitis occur in cycles, representing a model for the role of host-pathogen interactions in epidemic processes. The periodicity of the epidemics is not well understood, nor is it currently possible to predict them. In our longitudinal colonization and disease surveys, we have observed waves of clonal replacement with the same serog...

BACKGROUND Meningococcal disease can have devastating consequences. As new vaccines emerge, it is necessary to assess their impact on public health. In the absence of long-term real world data, modeling the effects of different vaccination strategies is required. Discrete event simulation provides a flexible platform with which to conduct such evaluations. METHODS A discrete event simulation ...

INTRODUCTION We reviewed the epidemiological features of rubella in Singapore and the impact of the national immunisation programme in raising the population herd immunity against rubella, with special reference to females in the reproductive age group, and in the elimination of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). MATERIALS AND METHODS Epidemiological data on all reported cases of rubella and ...

With increased demand for smallpox vaccination during the nineteenth century, vaccination days--early mass vaccination campaigns--were conducted over time-limited periods to rapidly and efficiently protect maximum numbers of susceptible persons. Two centuries later, the challenge to rapidly and efficiently protect populations by mass vaccintion continues, despite the strengthening of routine im...

BACKGROUND From 2006 to 2010, France experienced two bluetongue epidemics caused by serotype 1 (BTV-1) and 8 (BTV-8) which were controlled by mass vaccination campaigns. After five years without any detected cases, a sick ram was confirmed in August 2015 to be infected by a BTV-8 strain almost identical to that circulating during the previous outbreak. By then, part of the French cattle populat...

BACKGROUND Infectious disease interventions, such as vaccines and bed nets, have the potential to provide herd protection to non-recipients. Similarly, improved sanitation in one household may provide community-wide benefits if it reduces contamination in the shared environment. Sanitation at the household level is an important predictor of child growth, but less is known about the effect of sa...

Hobson, Lane, Beare, and Chivers (I964) found high haemagglutination-inhibiting (H.I.) antibody titres in the sera of almost half their volunteers who had been inoculated with an oil-adjuvant influenza vaccine more than two years previously. The antibody titres which were found suggest that if artificially induced antibodies are as effective as naturally acquired antibodies (a supposition by no...