Following the identification of Aedes (Ae.) aegypti in the Sochi area in Russia at the beginning of 2000, entomological surveys were conducted during the summers of 2007, 2011, and 2012, leading to the identification of Ae. albopictus and Ae. koreicus. These findings highlight Russia as being the only country in the World Health Organization European Region with a documented presence of both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes. Both mosquito species are found on the coasts of the Black Sea. Control measures are needed to reduce the possible risks of importing exotic vector-borne infections, such as dengue and chikungunya.

Standard-titre AIK-C may be more effective than other measles vaccine strains for early measles immunization and should be evaluated further for efficacy, long-term immunogenicity, and long-term safety.

An immature female worm, Dirofilaria immitis, was isolated from the scrotum of a 14-month-old child. This is the first identification of human dirofilariosis caused by D. immitis in a relatively Northern region (Moscow) of the Russian Federation. The parasite was diagnosed by means of morphological examination of the worm, confirmed by PCR assay. This case raises questions about the range of the D. immitis distribution among humans in Russia. To better understand the geographical distribution of dirofilarioses, detailed clinical and epidemiological information should be collected from human cases with appropriate laboratory confirmation.

The programs carried out previously for the eradication of infectious diseases have been described with the special attention in regard to the reasons of its failures and/or negative experience gained. So far the global program on smallpox eradication achieved the established goal, while two other, polio eradication initiative and dracontiasis eradication, are still going on rather long period of time. The program of elimination of measles and rubella, which according to the original plan, should be movedfor eradication in the future, is facing a lot ofproblems for the time being and therefore it is difficult to predict any future developments in this area. Nevertheless a number of initiatives and/or programs are very much keen nowadays to establish the goal of eradication or elimination without, according the authors opinion, serious and deep analysis of the burden of the targeted disease, its epidemiological and clinical peculiarities, feasibility for achievement of goal etc. The criterions for the disease selection for eradication/elimination are presented in the article. The hasty decision on such matter may lead to the failure of initiative, lack of the staff motivation, loss of the public health authority prestige and discredit the disease eradication concept as such.

Malaria continues to be a major international public health problem. However a significant reduction in the morbidity rate has been achieved over the past decade. The effective vaccine against malaria, caused by P. falciparun, could contribute significantly to the prevention and control of the disease, as tropical malaria is most widely distributed in the world. Nowadays there is the only RTS,S/AS01 vaccine had passed the accomplished phase 3 of clinical trial and received endorsement of certain bodies of World Health Organization and European Medicines Agency. RTS,S/AS01 is a pre-erythrocytic hybrid recombinant protein vaccine. Both immunogenicity and effectiveness of this vaccine particularly in children aged of 5-12 months were demonstrated by the trial at the time for first vaccination. Vaccine should be administered 3 times as the initial series of inoculation with 4 weeks interval and then the 4th dose should be given 15-18 months later. Since there is still a number of issues required certain clarifications, the decision has been taken to undertake another relatively large pilot project in African countries, prior to final recommendations on the vaccine use could be developed and proposed to countries. The implementation of this new trial will definitely take appropriate time. The contribution of vaccine to malaria control might be significant only if used simultaneously with other proved malaria control measures, such as the use of insecticide-treated nets, detection of malaria cases with the use of rapid diagnostic tests and subsequent its treatment, chemoprevention when appropriate and, of course vector control. The consideration of the vaccine use as the mechanism, which should allow achieve the eradication of the disease is not appropriate in principle.