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Nature 434, 1083 (28 April 2005) | doi:10.1038/4341083a; Published online 27 April 2005

Obituary:  Maurice R. Hilleman (1919–2005)

Reinhard Kurth1

During the twentieth century, life expectancy in industrialized countries almost doubled. Improvements in nutrition and sanitation certainly played a major role, but the central factor responsible was the development of childhood vaccines.

  1. Reinhard Kurth is at the Robert-Koch-Institut, Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
    Email: schwarzk@rki.de