An infectious disease is considered to be eliminated from a geographical region if the number of new cases observed over some period of time in that region drops to zero. However, the ease of global travel has resulted in previously eliminated diseases being re-introduced. A recent scenario of outbreaks of measles and polio in several regions highlight how imported cases can lead to serious outbreaks in regions declared to be disease-free.
According to the experts in the field, until the global eradication of highly transmissible diseases such as measles and polio is achieved, routine vaccination programs should remain an effective means of protecting populations from the risk of outbreaks that can result from imported cases. However, in practice, routine vaccination programs are ended way before. When the risk of infection is deemed low enough, the human and economic costs of routine…
