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Vaccines in practice - 2008

December 2008, Volume 1 Number 2

June 2008, Volume 1 Number 1

Who should be offered the HPV vaccine outside the planned programme?
Peter English
pp 1-4
Before we can discuss those who would benefit from vaccination outside the planned programme, we need to be clear about who will be offered it routinely.

Comment: How to keep a long-term vision on a short-term agenda
Peter M English
pp 3-3
As I write this editorial for the launch issue of our journal Vaccines in practice, the first CMO letter about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme has been published and the government of the day ‘humiliated’ in local elections. A cynic might claim that a politician’s priority list starts: ‘1) get elected; 2) get re-elected’. So, will the election results affect those of us whose business is vaccination?

Intradermal vaccination
Judith Moreton
pp 5-5
Although the administration of injectable vaccinations is generally via the intramuscular (IM) route, there is increasing evidence worldwide to support administration of certain vaccines into the skin, by what is referred to as an intradermal (ID) injection.

Conjugate vaccines: a significant milestone in vaccine development
Eva P Galiza and Paul T Heath
pp 6-7
The conjugation (joining) of bacterial polysaccharides to carrier proteins has been a major breakthrough in the development of vaccines. This review aims to give a brief overview of why conjugate vaccines are necessary, how they work, how they are being used in practice, and their role in the future.

Taking infants swimming need not be delayed until after immunisation
Linda E Diggle
pp 8-8
When attending for their child’s primary immunisations, parents often enquire at what point they can take their child swimming. There appear to be various responses from healthcare professionals. Some advise waiting until the first immunisation dose has been administered, while others believe two doses offer adequate protection against possible infection. Occasionally, health professionals recommend a child receives all three diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccinations (DTaP/IPV/Hib) before being taken into a public pool.

Financial aspects of GP immunisation
George Kassianos
pp 9-11
Under the old Statement of Fees and Allowances (The Red Book), the main childhood immunisations were target based and most other immunisations were paid on an item-of-service basis.