title: My continuing efforts toward the eradication of the vaccine-preventable diseases from Japan.
abstract: When compared to the Western countries, unfortunately, the progress toward the eradication of vaccine-preventable diseases in Japan has been relatively slow and hampered by some problems inherent to Japan. Concerning this, I have been working on the vaccine-preventable diseases, that is, measles, influenza, Haemophilus influenzae, and Streptcoccus pneumoniae infections. My first work was to produce monoclonal antibodies against measles virus proteins, and by using these antibodies, I established the immunofluorescent measles virus detection system in tissue samples. I constructed the 'Hokkaido measles-zero strategy' to eliminate measles from Hokkaido prefecture, the northernmost island of Japan, within 5 years since 2001 with very kind efforts of pediatricians in Hokkaido and those who are engaged in political activities. Coworkers and I established the disease entity of influenza-associated encephalopathy. And finally, I worked as a member of some groups that accumulated the basic data on the occurrence of bacterial meningitis in Japan and urged the government to introduce the H. influenzae type b conjugate vaccine and the pediatric 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Japan. I would like to express many thanks to all of my colleagues for their contributions to these achievements.
authors.affiliation: Sapporo City University School of Nursing, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Japan. t.togashi@scu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takehiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Togashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history; D018073:Haemophilus Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008458:Measles Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D018073:Haemophilus Vaccines; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D008458:Measles Vaccine; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines