Historical review of clinical vaccine studies at Oswaldo Cruz Institute and Oswaldo Cruz Foundation--technological development issues.

This paper presents, from the perspective of technological development and production, the results of an investigation examining 61 clinical studies with vaccines conducted in Brazil between 1938-2013, with the participation of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC) and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). These studies have been identified and reviewed according to criteria, such as the kind of vaccine (viral, bacterial, parasitic), their rationale, design and methodological strategies. The results indicate that IOC and Fiocruz have accumulated along this time significant knowledge and experience for the performance of studies in all clinical phases and are prepared for the development of new vaccines products and processes. We recommend national policy strategies to overcome existing regulatory and financing constraints.

[Discussion about vaccines from animal origin at the Mexican National Academy of Medicine in the XIX century]. / La discusión acerca de la vacuna de origen animal en la Academia Nacional de Medicina de México en el siglo XIX.

This is a recount about the prevailing ideas in Mexico during the second half of the XIX century for introducing the use of vaccines of animal origin; thus, the thoughts of men like Agustín Andrade, Angel Iglesias y Domínguez, Lino Ramírez, Fernando Malanco and Luis E. Ruiz, who emphasized this work.

Foot and mouth disease in Brazil and its control--an overview of its history, present situation and perspectives for eradication.

The objective of eliminating foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Brazil has been mainly motivated by the constant preoccupation of Brazilian authorities, livestock breeders and the meat industry with avoiding economic losses due to export restrictions. In 1934, the first national sanitary legislation was enacted, and the Pan-American Foot and Mouth Disease Center in Rio de Janeiro was inaugurated in 1951, with international participation. An overview is given of the past campaigns against FMD, the legislation, policies and field activities. The reasons for the failure of the past campaigns are discussed. The structure of the existing campaign and the present epidemiological situation are explained, and the further possibilities of being recognized as an FMD-free country are discussed.

[New perspectives in viral vaccines]. / Novas perspectivas em vacinas virais.

New viral vaccines, based on molecular research into genomes and proteins, should come into routine use in the coming decades. At the same time, use of different immunizing antigens within a single dose is also expected to grow more common, with the purpose of reducing the number of vaccinations administered to target populations. Given Brazil's scientific and technological importance, the country should enhance its participation in the development of new vaccines and in the evaluation of their efficacy by involving a larger number of researchers and technologists and boosting investment in these activities.

[Paul-Louis Simond and the Marchoux mission in Brazil]. / Paul-Louis Simond et la mission Marchoux au Brésil.

In 1900 the role of a particular mosquito called Stegomyia fasciata in the transmission of yellow fever was proved by a board of American medical officers. This discovery was the beginning of several scientific missions in South America, mostly in Brazil. As yellow fever was increasing in its West African colonies, the French government decided to send a scientific mission to Rio de Janeiro, to find new ways of prevention against the disease. Under the authority of the Institut Pasteur, Paul-Louis Simond, who had just discovered the role of the flea in the transmission of plague, was designated to carry through this mission together with Emile Marchoux and Alexandre Salimbeni, eminent Pasteurians like him. From November 1901 to May 1905, the three men studied the epidemiological and clinical aspects of the disease in Rio. They worked on the intermediate host's entomology, the Stegomyia female mosquito, improving the knowledge of yellow fever and its means of transmission. They also realized experiments on 25 healthy volunteers, submitting them to the bite of infected mosquitoes. They were among the first to proceed to yellow féver vaccinations by means of virulent serum heated to 55 degrees C or filtered. Their work led to the establishment of new sanitary rules to prevent the spread of the disease. This contributed to the success of the "yellow fever campaign" initiated by Oswaldo Cruz in the town of Rio. One of the most original contribution of their studies was to show that the yellow fever agent (which was still unknown) could be transmitted from an infected female Stegomyia to its eggs and larvaes. After this mission, the French authorities were able to fight yellow fever efficiently in their African colonies as well as in the West Indies and French Guyana.

Vacunas virales: logros y desafíos / Viral vaccines: achievements and challenges

In this review the present state of vaccination as an means to control viral diseases is discussed, and the needs and directions for future investigations are considered. The history of viral vaccines already in use is surveyed for guidance in what steps and background knowledge of the viral agents and the host responsess to infection were necesary to their successful development. The steps requisite for demonstrating efficacy and safety of a viral vaccine also are summarized, and the features of the target populations to be protected are noted as they affect the final requirement for a successful vaccine: that it be administered in proper dosage and potency to those who need. it. General remarks on the proper use of current vaccines are followed by an overiview of various developments toward prospective vaccines, along with the predicated time-frames for their coming into general use. Vaccines considered include vaccines to be administered locally at the portal of entry, subunit vaccines, viruses attenuated by genetic manipulation, use of viral vectors, vaccines developed by means of recombinant DNA, synthetic peptides, and anti-idiotype vaccines, as well as new vaccines being developed by more conventional methods (AU)

Vacunas virales: logros y desafíos / Viral vaccines: achievements and challenges

In this review the present state of vaccination as an means to control viral diseases is discussed, and the needs and directions for future investigations are considered. The history of viral vaccines already in use is surveyed for guidance in what steps and background knowledge of the viral agents and the host responsess to infection were necesary to their successful development. The steps requisite for demonstrating efficacy and safety of a viral vaccine also are summarized, and the features of the target populations to be protected are noted as they affect the final requirement for a successful vaccine: that it be administered in proper dosage and potency to those who need. it. General remarks on the proper use of current vaccines are followed by an overiview of various developments toward prospective vaccines, along with the predicated time-frames for their coming into general use. Vaccines considered include vaccines to be administered locally at the portal of entry, subunit vaccines, viruses attenuated by genetic manipulation, use of viral vectors, vaccines developed by means of recombinant DNA, synthetic peptides, and anti-idiotype vaccines, as well as new vaccines being developed by more conventional methods