**Introduction**

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**Introductory Chapter: Pertussis - Disease, Control and**

**Introductory Chapter: Pertussis - Disease, Control and** 

Since that the smallpox vaccine became available in the late eighteenth century, a significant number of diseases were gradually being controlled by vaccines, which are currently considered the most successful and cost-effective intervention in public health [1]. Recent data from Gavi - the Vaccine Alliance [2] in a survey for 10 immunopreventable diseases in 41 developing countries, indicate vaccines will prevent 36 million deaths between 2016 and 2030. The impact of vaccination extends from "saving lives" to socioeconomic aspects, in a line of cause and effect between health and social productivity. After almost 70 years, vaccination around the world ended up exerting selective pressure in the microbial environment, so it is now virtually impossible to know how it would be like if the vaccines had not been introduced.

However, the control of microorganisms by the vaccines may lead the population to the false impression that pathogens responsible for devastating epidemics in the past centuries are definitively extinguished. As a consequence, the refusal of vaccines, for religious or philosophical questions, or even for discredit on the effectiveness and safety of these products is becoming a growing concern. This change in population behavior, fueled by the relatively recent technology allowing for almost instantaneous dissemination of information, whether true or false, has been observed in several countries, with a consequent increase in the number of cases and deaths related to infections that can be controlled by vaccines, as has been hap-

In this book, we propose some approaches about interrelationships between vaccine strategies and microbial epidemiology, taking as reference the whooping cough, an endemic disease with significant morbidity and mortality and of indisputable importance in public health.

pening in relation to measles and whooping cough, in a very worrying way.

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.77134

**Challenges**

**Challenges**

Waldely Dias

**1. Introduction**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Waldely DiasAdditional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.77134

## **Introductory Chapter: Pertussis - Disease, Control and Challenges Introductory Chapter: Pertussis - Disease, Control and Challenges**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.77134
