BACKGROUND Childhood vaccination has been vigorously debated in recent years. Professional and parental confidence in the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in particular has been shaken, as reflected by its decreased uptake. AIM To investigate the influence of practice type and the method of vaccination call/recall on childhood immunisation coverage. DESIGN Analysis of childhood immu...

Higher-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) were licensed from 2009 in Europe; similar worldwide clinical effectiveness was observed for PCVs in routine use. Despite a proven medical need, PCV vaccination in Southern Europe remained suboptimal until 2015/16. We searched PubMed for manuscripts published between 2009 and mid-2016. Included manuscripts had to contain data about invasive p...

It is a well-known fact that the vast majority of Muslims throughout the world have been and are being immunised against polio as well as other infectious diseases. To say that immunisation activities in Nigeria were brought to a halt because of ‘exhortation against immunisation by Islamic clerics’ on the basis of flimsy evidence is therefore unbecoming of somebody with a scientific background....

BACKGROUND In high income countries, vaccine-preventable diseases have been greatly reduced through routine vaccination programs. Despite this success, many parents question, and a small proportion even refuse vaccination for their children. As no qualitative studies have explored the factors behind these decisions among Dutch parents, we performed a study using online focus groups. METHODS I...

BACKGROUND The availability of new pneumococcal conjugate vaccines covering a broader range of serotypes, has seen many countries introduce these into their national immunisation program. When transitioning from 7-valent to 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, Australia is one of a small number of countries that included a supplementary dose of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine...

Vaccines are one of the greatest triumphs of healthcare innovation. They have saved millions of lives, prevented destructive chronic illnesses and eased pressures on health services across the globe. The UK NHS constitution states that everyone has the right to receive vaccinations recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) under a NHS-provided national immunisati...

AIM Rotavirus is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in children. Two rotavirus vaccines (RotaTeq and Rotarix) have recently completed clinical trials. We investigated whether routine infant immunisation with either vaccine can be cost effective. METHODS We compared costs and outcomes of vaccination using a cohort model, following children over the first 5 years of life. We estimated h...