Progress toward achieving the 1990 immunization objectives.

Dramatic progress has been made in reducing morbidity due to infectious diseases of childhood through programs of universal immunization of children. This success has been achieved by a program that involves a remarkable integration of private and public endeavors and cooperation between official and voluntary agencies. Similar models of cooperation and integration have not yet been developed for selective use vaccines and new vaccines. As a consequence, although it seems likely that the childhood immunization objectives will be achieved by 1990, the ability to achieve objectives for selective use and new vaccines is in doubt. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has undertaken, as an initiative, the accelerated development of new vaccines. The goal is to expedite the availability of needed vaccines by selecting a few candidate vaccines for extra research and development efforts. Studies are in progress on more than 50 antigens for more than 30 different bacterial, viral, and parasitic diseases.