Workshops, conferences and news
- Ethical Issues in Immunisation Seminar March 26th, 2012 10am - 5pm, The Darlington Centre, The University of Sydney
- **POSTPONED**Immunisation Program - Implementation Research and Evaluation Seminar March 27th, 2012 9am - 4pm, The Darlington Centre, The University of Sydney
- New NCIRS Fact Sheet for Providers - Adult Vaccination
- 2009 report on adverse events following immunisation in Australia now available
- 2008 Annual immunisation coverage report now available
- PhD student awarded scholarship to present recent influenza findings
- Researchers awarded funding to study vaccine uptake in pregnant women
Ethical Issues in Immunisation Seminar
March 26th, The Darlington Centre, The University of Sydney
This one day seminar addresses the major ethical issues facing immunisation programs in Australia today. It asks:
* What level of vaccine risk is acceptable and who should decide?
* Is it unethical not to have a no-fault compensation scheme for
serious adverse events attributed to vaccination?
* How far can we go in getting people to be vaccinated?
* Is the current system for funding vaccines sufficient?
* How can vaccine programs incorporate public values?
Speakers and chairs include Marie Bismark, Stacy Carter, Andrea Forde, Claire Hooker, David Isaacs, Heath Kelly, Ian Kerridge, Julie Leask, Kristine Macartney, Roger Magnusson, Helen Marshall, Peter Massey, Terry Nolan, Glenn Salkeld, Cameron Stewart.
Cost $143 (incl GST)
To register complete and return the registration form below. For more information, please contact Ms Joanne Perkins on 02 9845 1433 or joanne.perkins@health.nsw.gov.au
To register, print and complete the following registration form and return as directed -
For a copy of the draft program
Click here
Immunisation Program - Implementation Research and Evaluation Seminar, March 27th, The Darlington Centre, The University of Sydney
PLEASE NOTE THIS WORKSHOP HAS BEEN POSTPONED, INFORMATION WILL BE CIRCULATED ONCE A NEW DATE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED
An opportunity to share evidence-based immunisation program implementation initiatives and idenitfy priorities for future research and evaluation of strategies to enhance vaccination uptake in Australia.
For more information, please contact Ms Joanne Perkins on 02 9845 1433 or joanne.perkins@health.nsw.gov.au
Save the date flyer available below (297.96KB) -
New NCIRS Fact Sheet for Providers - Adult Vaccination
The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) has released a new fact sheet for immunisation providers on adult vaccination.
The fact sheet provides a summary of the current national recommendations on vaccines required during adult hood, including those funded under the National Immunisation Program (NIP) and those that are recommended in the current (9th) edition of The Australian Immunisation Handbook. It also highlights adults who may be at higher risk of certain vaccine preventable diseases and need additional vaccines, such as pregnant women, immigrants and health care workers.
A summary table is also provided in the fact sheet which can be used as a quick reference for providers in the clinical setting. This is to be used in conjunction with the Handbook.
The fact sheet is available on the Immunisation Resources page. The NCIRS website features a number of resources for immunisation providers including; fact sheets, coverage information, and educational tools such as MMR decision aid and Myths and Realities slide presentation.
2009 report on adverse events following immunisation in Australia now available
Published in the September issue of Communicable Diseases Intelligence this report summarises Australian surveillance data for adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) reported to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for 2009.
During 2009, there was an increase in the number of reported adverse events compared with previous years. This increase was attributed to the introduction of the pH1N1 influenza vaccine in September 2009. The high rate of reporting for pH1N1 influenza vaccine is partly due to greater reporting by members of the public as well as the known effect of enhanced reporting that occurs after the introduction of new vaccines. Reporting by members of the public and health professionals was actively encouraged at the start of the pH1N1 vaccination program.
The types of adverse events reported in 2009 were similar to those in previous years. The most common reported reactions were mild and included injection site reaction, fever, headache, and nausea.
The monitoring of adverse events following immunisation by the TGA allows surveillance of the safety of vaccines used in Australia. Reports of suspected AEFI are notified to TGA by state and territory health departments, health professionals, vaccine manufacturers and members of the public. All the reports are reviewed by TGA and collated in a central database. NCIRS is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing to analyse de-identified data and produce AEFI surveillance reports. The complete 2009 report can be found online at:
Australian Government Department of Health & Ageing website.
2008 Annual immunisation coverage report now available
The most recent data on the uptake of vaccines available to Australian children under the National Immunisation Program (NIP) have recently been published in the 2008 annual immunisation coverage report.
The yearly report analyses data available through the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) and comments on the coverage of NIP listed vaccines at the different age milestones and trends in timeliness of vaccine delivery. Vaccine uptake is also assessed with respects to Indigenous status and geographical locations.
The 2008 report demonstrates the success of the Australian Childhood Immunisation Program, with national coverage for all vaccines recommended for children at 12 months and 24 months of age, exceeding the Immunise Australia coverage targets of 90%.
However, the report also identifies areas where immunisation coverage can be improved. The proportion of children who are fully immunised at 5 years of age is much lower than at 12 and 24 months. In addition, a disparity still exists in vaccine coverage between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children, especially with regards to timeliness of vaccine delivery. A number of geographical areas have also been identified throughout Australia where immunisation coverage is lower than the national average.
The full report is available online in the September 2010 issue of the journal Communicable Disease Intelligence (CDI) Australian Government Department of Health & Ageing website. The report is prepared by the surveillance team at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, at the Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney.
PhD student awarded scholarship to present recent influenza findings
NCIRS PhD student Dr Gulam Khandaker was awarded a competitive scholarship to attend and present his research findings at the Australian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID) annual scientific meeting in Darwin in May.
As a member of the NCIRS clinical research team, Dr Khandaker is involved in multiple projects researching the control and management of influenza. The competitive scholarship provided by the ASID council allowed Dr Khandaker to present results from three independent influenza studies.
One of the studies described the challenges and difficulties associated with managing influenza outbreaks in aged care facilities during influenza pandemics. The results from this study were recently published in the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA).
The ASID annual conference is a national meeting which brings together researchers and specialists from a broad range of infectious disease fields, from microbial genomics to public health. Others from NCIRS who attended the 3-day conference included Director Professor Peter McIntyre and Head of Clinical Research Professor Robert Booy.
Dr Khandaker is currently completing his paediatrics specialist training while enrolled part time in a PhD at NCIRS under the supervision of Professor Robert Booy. His associate supervisor is Professor Dominic Dwyer from the University of Sydney.
Researchers awarded funding to study vaccine uptake in pregnant women
NCIRS researchers Dr Julie Leask, Dr Spring Cooper and Dr Nick Wood, were recently awarded a grant from the Financial Markets Foundation for Children to initiate a new study aimed at better understanding the behaviours and attitudes of pregnant women to influenza vaccination and pertussis vaccination postnatally.
Whooping cough caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis and influenza (the flu), are illnesses that commonly affect infants and young children. Both diseases are preventable by vaccination however high numbers of illness and death are still recorded in Australia.
This new study aims to understand the barriers that pregnant women and new mothers may have to receiving vaccines that can protect them and their children against whopping cough and influenza. Based on this research the team hope to develop a tool that can help mothers make informed decisions about receiving these vaccinations at the right time.
The project commenced in July this year and will be lead by Dr Julie Leask, senior research fellow and manager of the social research team at NCIRS. Dr Spring Cooper is a senior research officer and will bring her experience from a study of the impact of gain versus loss frames on postnatal pertussis vaccination uptake. Dr Nick Wood is a paediatrician involved in a number of clinical research projects focussed on maternal and neonatal immunisation. Ms Kerrie Wiley will be undertaking her PhD research based on this study.
More information can be found at the Financial Markets Foundation for Children.
