Vaccines: Progress nnd Challenges for the Control of Preventable Diseases

ABSTRACT For over 200 years, vaccination has been a very effective tool to prevent infectious diseases and along with sanitation. In practical terms, it can be considered the greatest public health benefit of the twentieth century. However, vaccine development remains as a developing domain in the field of immunology and in the last decade there has been a shift toward a more rational approach in vaccination design, based on a molecular understanding of microbial pathogenesis, the use of new recombinant technologies and the development of more effective delivery systems for vaccines . This paper describes the progress in vaccine development from the first reports of vaccination practices, through the current state of vaccine development, the new vaccine strategies and the impact of vaccination in the control of preventable diseases. Key Words: new strategies, preventables diseases, vaccines