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Vaccines in practice - 2011

November 2011, Volume 4 Number 3

August 2011, Volume 4 Number 2

April 2011, Volume 4 Number 1

The role of airway bacteria in exacerbations of COPD
Alex Mackay and Jadwiga Wedzicha
pp 1-4
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory airway condition, associated with episodes of acute deterioration termed exacerbations. Exacerbations are among the most common causes of medical admission in the UK, and are costly to the NHS.

Comment: Keeping the faith in vaccination
Peter M English
pp 3-3
Most of the patients and parents we meet in our clinics are pleased to be offered vaccines to protect them or their children. Some are uncertain, and possibly confused by the poor quality information they have come across in the press or on the internet.

Call–recall systems for immunisation
Paul Carter
pp 5-6
Core to any successful immunisation programme is an effective call–recall system, with good informatics and good personal support. Immunisation rates over the last 15 years in the UK have risen generally from around 90% to nearer 98%. Maintenance of good quality informatics is key to sustaining these higher immunisation rates.

Local immunisation programmes: the role of the commissioner
Kevin Perrett, Kenneth Lamden and Julia Rosser
pp 6-8
This is the last in a series of three articles that looks at how the national immunisation programme is commissioned, co-ordinated and delivered locally. The article is written from the perspective of a commissioner. This series has not proposed a single way of doing things, as no such uniformity does, can, or – more arguably – should exist. This article similarly offers no proscriptive solution. We do hope to shed some light on how the functions of the commissioning and the co-ordination of local immunisation programmes should dovetail at a local level to achieve everyone’s shared goal of consistently high vaccination coverage across the local community.

Novel tuberculosis vaccines – why do we need them and what is on the horizon?
Elizabeth Whittaker and Beate Kampmann
pp 9-11
The commitment of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Stop TB campaign has spurred on the efforts of the international research community to develop a more effective tuberculosis (TB) vaccine by the year 2015. With at least six vaccine candidates entering clinical trials, TB vaccine development is at a very exciting and promising stage. This follows over ten years of extensive research in this area, testing 200 TB vaccine candidates. However, no vaccine is yet in Phase III evaluation, and the search for additional vaccine candidates and strategies must continue if the Global Plan to Stop TB is to be successful in eliminating TB by 2050.