Virology
Eradication of Measles in South Korea
By Vincent Racaniello
MMWR reports on 6 April 2007 that measles has been eliminated from South Korea. The history of measles in South Korea provides a useful example of how immunization practices need to be flexible to achieve their goals. Measles vaccine was first introduced into South Korea in 1965, and was included ...
Should graduate students blog?
By Vincent Racaniello
There is an interesting article on ArsTechnica this week by Hannibal entitled Blogging and job prospects: from the academy to the SCOTUS. The basic premise is that one's soul is usually bared in a blog, and topics are often discussed that would never be addressed in a job interview. He ...
Marshall Horwitz
By Vincent Racaniello
I note the recent passing of Marshall Horwitz on 31 May 2005. Dr. Horwitz was an internationally recognized virologist who made important contributions to our understanding of adenoviruses, causative agents of respiratory, enteric, and opthalmologic infections. In the course of his career he studied many aspects of the biology of ...
Maurice Hilleman
By Vincent Racaniello
I note the recent passing of Maurice Hilleman on 11 April 2005. Dr. Hilleman was a giant in the field of vaccines. Working at Merck & Co., he developed 8 of the 14 commonly used vaccines: measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia, and Haemophilus. Among his other ...
Jonas Salk’s Poliovaccine
By Vincent Racaniello
Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the licensing of the first vaccine against poliomyelitis, the inactivated poliovaccine (IPV) developed by Jonas Salk. On 12 April 1955, the results of the clinical trial of IPV were announced. The trial, supported by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP) and organized by ...