Immunisation Horizon Scanning Volume 5 Issue 5
May 23, 2013
Leave a Comment » | 
Contents, Immunisation, Vaccines, Volume 5 Issue 5 | 
Permalink
Posted by Andrew Craig
Back to basics: the miracle and tragedy of measles vaccine
May 23, 2013Source: The Lancet, 381 (9876) pp. 1433–1434
Date of publication: April 2013
Publication Type: Comment
In a nutshell: As we herald progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and strive to meet them, we have an approaching public health target that is sometimes forgotten. The global community has resolved to reduce measles deaths by 95% by 2015, and five of the six WHO regions plan to eliminate measles within this decade. The current outbreak of measles in Swansea, UK, is tragic in many ways, with hundreds of ill children, health staff stretched and working overtime to care for patients and trace contacts, the need for emergency vaccination clinics, and the spectre of death from measles…
Length of publication: 2-page article
Leave a Comment » | Comment, Contents, Immunisation, Measles, MMR vaccine, Mumps, Rubella, United Kingdom, Vaccines, Volume 5 Issue 5 | Permalink
Posted by Andrew Craig
Shingles vaccine to be routine for people in their 70s
May 23, 2013Source: BBC News
Follow this link for full-text
Date of publication: April 2013
Publication Type: News
In a nutshell: People in their 70s across the UK will be offered a vaccine against shingles from this September. Experts have been recommending routine immunisation against the disease, which causes a painful rash, for some years. The government-led programme will target 70, 78 and 79-year-olds in the first instance and should prevent tens of thousands of cases a year. Elderly people are at greatest risk and vaccination should prevent nearly half of cases in the over-70s.
Length of publication: 1-page news item
Leave a Comment » | Contents, Immunisation, News, Publication Types, Shingles, United Kingdom, Volume 5 Issue 5 | Permalink
Posted by Andrew Craig
Small rise in rubella cases triggers warning
May 22, 2013Source: BMJ, 2013;346:f2935
Date of publication: May 2013
Publication Type: News
In a nutshell: Last year saw the highest number of rubella cases in England and Wales since 1999. Although numbers are still small there is some concern that the disease could start to circulate more widely.
Length of publication: 1-page news item
Related Story: Wales measles epidemic prompts rubella outbreak warning, BBC News
Leave a Comment » | Contents, Immunisation, Measles, MMR vaccine, Mumps, News, Publication Types, Rubella, United Kingdom, Volume 5 Issue 5, Wales | Permalink
Posted by Andrew Craig
Measles outbreak: Why now, and who is most at risk
May 22, 2013Source: Nurse Prescribing, 2013, 11(5), pp. 214 – 216
Date of publication: May 2013
Publication Type: News Analysis
In a nutshell: Few topics are as divisive as the MMR vaccine versus autism. In recent weeks the latest measles outbreak has received many column inches, and is clear is that there is a very distinct between the pro- and the anti-vaccine camps. What is surprising is that media reports suggest that it is the better educated middle classes who are more likely to be skeptic…
Length of publication: 3-page article
Leave a Comment » | Contents, Immunisation, Journal Article, Measles, MMR vaccine, Mumps, Publication Types, United Kingdom, Volume 5 Issue 5 | Permalink
Posted by Andrew Craig
Swansea measles: Cases rise by 20 to 1,094
May 22, 2013Source: BBC News
Follow this link for full-text
Date of publication: May 2013
Publication Type: News
In a nutshell: Measles cases in the Swansea epidemic have risen by 20 in the last five days to 1,094 as health chiefs warn the uptake of MMR is too low to eliminate the disease in Wales.
Length of publication: 1-page news item
Leave a Comment » | Contents, Immunisation, Measles, MMR vaccine, Mumps, News, Publication Types, Rubella, United Kingdom, Volume 5 Issue 5, Wales | Permalink
Posted by Andrew Craig
Measles in the UK: a test of public health competency in a crisis
May 22, 2013Source: BMJ, 2013;346:f2793
Date of publication: May 2013
Publication Type: Editorial
In a nutshell: The recent surge in measles cases in south Wales signals a discomfiting failure by a G8 nation to control an easily preventable disease. Far from the measles virus being holed up in outposts in poor countries, the spectre of large outbreaks of measles in England is now looming large. By contrast, elimination of endemic measles in the Americas has been achieved by treating it as an emergency. Prevention of more measles cases in the United Kingdom, and avoidance of embarrassment for the government, will turn on the effectiveness of the public health delivery system…
Length of publication: 2-page article
Leave a Comment » | Contents, Editorial, Immunisation, Measles, MMR vaccine, United Kingdom, Vaccines, Volume 5 Issue 5 | Permalink
Posted by Andrew Craig
Determining immunisation status of children from history: a diagnostic accuracy study
May 22, 2013Source: BMJ Open, 2013;3:e002822 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002822
Follow this link for full-text
Date of publication: April 2013
Publication Type: Article
In a nutshell: Objectives: Children presenting unplanned to healthcare services are routinely asked about previous immunisations as part of their assessment. We aimed to assess the accuracy of screening children for immunisation status by history… Conclusions: History had poor sensitivity for identifying overdue immunisation. Strategies to improve detection of children overdue with immunisation should focus on alternative strategies for alerting clinicians, such as linkage of community and hospital electronic records.
Length of publication: 4-page article
Leave a Comment » | Contents, Immunisation, Journal Article, United Kingdom, Vaccines, Volume 5 Issue 5 | Permalink
Posted by Andrew Craig
UK vaccination schedule: persistence of immunity to hepatitis B in children vaccinated after perinatal exposure
May 13, 2013Source: Archives of Diseases in Childhood, 2013;98:429–433. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2012-302153
Date of publication: March 2013
Publication Type: Article
In a nutshell: Objective: To assess persistence of immunity to hepatitis B (HBV) in primary school children vaccinated following perinatal exposure… Conclusions: This study of antibody persistence among UK children born to hepatitis B infected women, immunised with a 3-dose infant schedule with a toddler booster suggests sustained immunity through early childhood. These data should prompt further studies to address the need for a preschool booster.
Length of publication: 5-page article
Leave a Comment » | Contents, Hepatitis B, Journal Article, United Kingdom, Vaccines, Volume 5 Issue 5 | Permalink
Posted by Andrew Craig
Immunisation Horizon Scanning 
Should the UK introduce compulsory vaccination?
May 23, 2013Source: The Lancet, 381 (9876) pp. 1434–1436
Follow this link for abstract
Date of publication: April 2013
Publication Type: Comment
In a nutshell: Inevitably, an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease in the UK triggers calls for compulsory vaccination. As of April 17, 2013, 808 cases of measles have been reported in the Swansea area, about 10% of which have led to hospital admission. One young adult who died is known to have had measles at the time, but it has not yet been confirmed if he died because of measles. Large outbreaks of measles have also occurred in northern England, with 865 confirmed cases in northwest England. Measles has a case fatality rate of between 1 per 1000 and 1 per 3000 reported measles cases, and unless the outbreaks are brought to a halt, more deaths will result.
Length of publication: 3-page article