Poliomyelitis eradication activities in Egypt were reviewed to identify the critical factors for the progress seen by 1995 and to highlight problems that could be avoided in other countries in which poliomyelitis is endemic. National immunization and surveillance data demonstrate that the combination of high routine immunization coverage (>85%) with oral polio vaccine combined with two properly conducted rounds of national immunization days (NIDs) resulted in a 75% reduction in reported polio cases between 1992 and 1993. Available data suggest that earlier control strategies, such as single-round NIDs in 1990 and 1991, the administration of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) at 2 months of age in 1992-1993, and the use of "mop-up" campaigns while wild poliovirus was still widespread, did not contribute substantially to the recent decline in cases. Proper implementation of the World Health Organization's recommended strategies can eliminate wild poliovirus circulation in the large, densely populated tropical countries in which poliomyelitis remains endemic.

The prevalence of Hepatitis C viral infection in Egypt is the highest rate in the world. It is a major public health problem in Egypt. The objective of this study was to detect the clearance of HCV-RNA in Egyptian patients who were recommended for combination therapy of pyglated interferon α 2a and ribavirin (PEG-interferon/Ribavirin). Ninety-five positive HCV-IgG cases were tested for HCV-RNA at baseline and at weeks 4, 12, 24, 48 and 72 of treatment with PEG-interferon α 2a/Ribavirin. The correlations between the viral parameters during and after treatment were evaluated. Patients recommended receiving PEG-interferon 2a/ribavirin combination therapy showed high response rate determined as 71.9% achieved Sustained Virological Response (SVR) from total patients, and 71.4% from patients who received 48 weeks therapy. In general, the employment of TMA provided us the accuracy of results with confidence in our work. There was a significant relation (p < 0.001) between results of Transcription mediated amplification (TMA) and response to therapy that indicate to positive correlation. The development of sensitive accurate assays for HCV-RNA detection and quantification is necessary to improve not only the assessment of the response to antiviral therapy but also our understanding of the mechanism underlying antiviral resistance.