Skip to main content
hpa logo
Topics A-Z:
Search the site:
Home › Topics › Infectious Diseases › Infections A-Z › Vaccination Immunisation ›General Information ›  European Immunization Week – 23 April to 30 April 2011
Printer friendly page (opens in new window)

European Immunization Week – 23 April to 30 April 2011

Supporting immunisation

Over the last 60 years national immunisation programmes have transformed public health and the improved the health of millions of people. But more still needs to be done.  Here are just a few examples of how the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has been working on protecting people's health through immunisation and vaccine research:

  • The HPA worked closely with The Meningitis Trust, Novartis, the Muslim Council of Britain and the Muslim Doctors and Dentist Association UK in the West Midlands to provide pilgrims travelling to the Hajj or Umrah with health information and highlighting the importance of protecting against diseases such as meningitis, malaria or typhoid.
  • Following reports of measles clusters in the traveller and gypsy communities, the HPA’s health protection units developed immunisation information tailored to traveller community websites to raise awareness of measles. The HPA worked with and supported local NHS colleagues in improving vaccination uptake.
  • Following the 2006 introduction of the new pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to the UK’s childhood immunisation programme, the HPA has worked with colleagues in the NHS to monitor all cases of invasive pneumococcal disease in children eligible for routine or catch-up immunisation, check vaccine effectiveness and track any changes in incidence.
  • The agency helped to develop a new group A meningitis vaccine for use in Africa. The HPA, aspart of a consortium of scientists, evaluated the new vaccine’s effectiveness. The vaccine will save millions of people from meningitis epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe gastroenteritis in infants and young children. The HPA gathers information on rotavirus circulating throughout Europe and since 2007 has led and coordinated the EuroRotaNet project for conducting rotavirus strain surveillance in 17 European countries following rotavirus vaccine introduction.
  • The HPAis working with Novartis and European public health organisations to develop a vaccine against neonatal infections suchas meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia caused by group B streptococci (GBS). This is a serious infection mainly associated with newborns. The DEVANI (DEsign of a Vaccine Against Neonatal Infections) project, aims to protect babies from GBS via their mothers.
  • The HPAhas developed and supported immunisation training at national and local levels and has recently created and published a new training tool – an animation explaining the essentials of immunology for immunisers (see http://immunologyanimation.hpa.org.uk). In addition, the HPA has contributed toanewimmunisation e-learning programme that will shortly be released by NHS CoreLearning.

Supporting immunisation: European Immunization Week – 23 April to 30 April 2011 (PDF, 37 KB)

For more information on immunisation visit www.hpa.org.ukorwww.nhs.uk/Planners/vaccinations/Pages/Landing.aspx

For more information on European Immunization Week, visit http://www.euro.who.int/eiw

Immunisation week 2010

Supporting immunisation: European Immunization Week – 24 April to 1 May 2010 (PDF, 109 KB)

 


Last reviewed: 26 April 2011