INFECTIOUS AND COMMUNICABLE DISEASES account
for a large burden of disease worldwide, causing the
death of roughly a million people each month
(WHO 2004). This book is about some of the ways
in which this enormous problem is being
addressed.
The book comprises a collection of papers from
the global Conference on vaccines, prevention, and
public health and is as much about public health
thinking in communicable disease control as it is
specifically about vaccines. Its contributors are
practitioners in the field of immunisation and communicable
disease control from all over the world.
The book is clearly set out in eight sections, with
both an introductory summary, Setting the stage, and
an Epilogue summary section. The specific sections
cover The present, with summaries of measles,
rubella and poliovirus control measures, as well as
the case of yellow fever which is used as a warning
about what can happen if we take our eyes off the
public-health-control ball. This is followed by The
cutting edge, covering the newest vaccines for Haemophilus
influenzae, varicella (chicken pox), hepatitis
A, and the two major bacterial infections ?
meningococcal and pneumococcal diseases. The
future section covers prospects for vaccines to control
a variety of infections, including the enteric
diseases rotavirus, Shigella and typhoid; two major
causes of cancer, Helicobacter pylori (gastric cancers
and ulcers) and human papillomavirus (cervical
cancer); hepatitis C; and two common causes of
viral respiratory disease, influenza and respiratory
syncytial virus (RSV). RSV is a good example of a
common disease which carries a large burden of
morbidity (Chin 2002) all over the world, especially
among children, and yet few people have
heard of it.
Communicable Disease Control—A Volume for the Health Officer and Public Health Nurse
