Vaccine
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Safe, effective vaccines are given to pregnant women to protect their infants and/or themselves against certain infectious agents; however, apart from tetanus vaccination, maternal immunization in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains low. Tetanus toxoid vaccine is integrated into antenatal care services in Malawi with high coverage and provides an opportunity to identify factors that facilitate successful immunization delivery to pregnant women in LMICs. ⋯ Lessons from the successful delivery of maternal tetanus immunization in Malawi may be informative for similar countries considering new vaccines for pregnant women or striving to optimize the delivery of those currently provided.
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The quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine MenACWY-CRM has been shown to be immunogenic and well-tolerated in infants and toddlers. We evaluated antibody persistence for up to 4 years after vaccination with MenACWY-CRM in the first years of life and response to a booster dose administered at 60 months of age. ⋯ Primary vaccination of infants/toddlers with MenACWY-CRM resulted in moderate antibody persistence against serogroups C, W and Y for up to 4 years after the last priming dose. Regardless of priming schedule, a MenACWY-CRM booster dose at 60 months of age induced a robust immune response against all serogroups and was well-tolerated in all children.
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Historical Article
Influenza immunisation coverage from 2015 to 2017: A national study of adult patients from Australian general practice.
To assess influenza immunisation rates and coverage in adult patients from Australian general practice and identify whether practice or patients' characteristics are associated with vaccination uptake. ⋯ MedicineInsight data is a useful and low-cost method to monitor influenza immunisation coverage. Independent of the sample used, vaccination coverage among Indigenous people or patients with comorbidities could be improved. Targeted strategies for high-risk groups need to be developed.
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Improvements in vaccine safety surveillance and investigative capacity lead to identification of rare reactions attributable to vaccination. As a result, the issue of fair compensation for those who experience vaccine injuries is gaining growing attention. Although vaccine injury compensation programmes (VICP) have been developed in a few countries for more than 50 years, no global policy guidance to guide vaccine injury compensation in all countries wishing to adopt such compensation schemes is currently available. ⋯ Previous reviews have described the characteristics of the existing programmes based on the six common elements identified by Evans in 1999 with less emphasis on characteristics from countries implementing these no-fault compensation programmes. This manuscript aimed to identify predictors of countries implementing no-fault compensation programmes for vaccine injuries and update the inventory of existing programmes as part of a more comprehensive global landscape evaluation of existing programmes. This information will be useful for country self-evaluation and future compensation policy formulation as discussion to develop policies guiding the implementation of vaccine injury compensation continues to gain growing attention.