Immunisation and vaccinations
Prevention of colds and flu
Good hygiene is one of the most important ways to help prevent colds and flu (influenza). Find out how to prevent colds and flu.
HPV vaccine
Trusted information about Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine can be found on this page.
Immunisation for your child
Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting children against certain diseases. Discover more about childhood vaccinations.
Immunisation and pregnancy
During pregnancy, your immune system is naturally weaker than usual so are more susceptible to certain infections and illnesses which can be harmful t...
Travel vaccinations
Learn about why vaccinations are important before you travel.
Vaccine preventable diseases
Vaccine preventable diseases (VPD) are diseases such as measles or mumps that can be prevented by an immunisation programme.
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Vaccinations
Find out how vaccines work and what vaccinations your child will have as part of the National Immunisation Program.
Read more on Pregnancy, Birth & Baby website
Immunisation or vaccination - what's the difference?
What's the difference between immunisation and vaccination? Find out more, plus links to trusted resources.
Read more on Pregnancy, Birth & Baby website
Immunisation
The articles in this section relate to immunisation, vaccines and vaccination safety.
Read more on WA Health website
Immunisation for your child
Answers to common questions about child immunisation, advice on the recommended vaccinations and links to trusted resources.
Read more on Pregnancy, Birth & Baby website
Vaccination safety
Vaccination refers to the act of giving a vaccine to a person. A vaccine is the material used to immunise people against diseases.
Read more on WA Health website
Vaccination: Australian standard vaccination schedule - myDr.com.au
An easy guide to the vaccinations included in the National Immunisation Schedule as well as some other recommended vaccinations you need.
Read more on myDr website
Influenza Vaccine (Flu Vaccine) | myVMC
Flu vaccines are products given to people so that their immune systems are better able to recognise flu (influenza) infection, and therefore has a better chance of fighting it off.
Read more on myVMC – Virtual Medical Centre website
Save the Date to Vaccinate - Home
Immunisation protects the community against vaccine-preventable diseases. Each vaccine plays an important role, so timely vaccination is the best way to protect your child. This website offers parents access to comprehensive information on immunisation as well as the following, easy-to-use free tools designed to help you save the date to vaccinate.
Read more on NSW Health website
Travel vaccinations - myDr.com.au
Travel immunisations are important in pre-trip planning to certain countries. Vaccinations that travellers may need include tetanus and diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, and typhoid vaccinations.
Read more on myDr website
Vaccination - myDr.com.au
Vaccination is one of the most important public health measures in the world. Find out how vaccination works and about childhood and adult immunisations.
Read more on myDr website
Top results
Face to face interventions to inform or educate parents about early childhood vaccination | Cochrane
Childhood vaccination (also described as immunisation) is an important and effective way to reduce childhood illness and death. However, there are many children who do not receive the recommended vaccines because their parents do not know why vaccination is important, do not understand how, where or when to get their children vaccinated, disagree with vaccination as a public health measure, or have concerns about vaccine safety.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Pneumonia (pneumococcal) vaccines for children and adults with bronchiectasis | Cochrane
In many countries pneumonia vaccination (for the protection against infection of the bacteria pneumococcus), is part of the immunisation schedule for infants as well as for people with bronchiectasis. In this review, our search for randomised control trials that examined the effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccines for people with bronchiectasis revealed one randomised and one quasi-controlled trial. We conclude that, albeit the limitations of the review, adults and children (when age appropriate) with bronchiectasis should be vaccinated with the 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine as suggested in many national guidelines. Due to absence of data on how often the vaccine should be given, we recommend that national guidelines be followed until further evidence is available.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Combined DTP-HBV-HIB vaccine versus separately administered DTP-HBV and HIB vaccines in healthy infants up to two years old | Cochrane
Combined DTP-HBV-HIB vaccine versus separately administered DTP-HBV and HIB vaccines in healthy infants up to two years old
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Does reminding people to have vaccinations increase the number of people who receive vaccinations? | Cochrane
Increasing the number of people who are vaccinated could lower death and disease rates throughout the world. Many strategies to increase vaccinations have been used. One way is to remind people to receive their vaccinations. This review of 47 studies evaluated whether reminding people worked.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Interventions that will increase and sustain the uptake of vaccines in low- and middle-income countries | Cochrane
Interventions that will increase and sustain the uptake of vaccines in low- and middle-income countries
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Flu vaccines for preventing cardiovascular disease | Cochrane
Flu infection may make cardiovascular disease (e.g. heart attack, stroke) and associated death more likely, and flu vaccination may reduce this risk. We included randomised studies comparing people receiving flu vaccine with those receiving no vaccine (placebo or no treatment). For this review update, we found eight trials studying 12,029 participants. Four of these studies examined patients with known heart disease (1682 participants), and the other four focused on the general population or elderly people (10,347 participants). The general population studies reported cardiovascular disease outcomes as part of their safety analyses, but the numbers of cases were too few to allow a judgement on whether flu vaccination was protective in these populations, and no differences were seen between groups. Overall, studies in people with heart disease suggest that flu vaccination may reduce death as a result of cardiovascular disease and may reduce combined cardiovascular disease events (such as heart attacks, strokes, necessity for bypass operations, etc.). However, these studies were small and had some risk of bias, so larger studies of better quality are needed to confirm the results.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Immunisation and pregnancy who, what, when and why? | Issue 4 | Volume 40 | Australian Prescriber | Australian Prescriber
What are the benefits of recommending vaccination to pregnant women?
Read more on Australian Prescriber website
Vaccination for preventing postherpetic neuralgia | Cochrane
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Vaccines for preventing seasonal influenza and its complications in people aged 65 or older | Cochrane
Influenza vaccination of elderly individuals is recommended worldwide as people aged 65 and older are at a higher risk of complications, hospitalisations and deaths from influenza. This review looked at evidence from experimental and non-experimental studies carried out over 40 years of influenza vaccination. We included 75 studies. These were grouped first according to study design and then the setting (community or long-term care facilities). The results are mostly based on non-experimental (observational) studies, which are at greater risk of bias, as not many good quality trials were available. Trivalent inactivated vaccines are the most commonly used influenza vaccines. Due to the poor quality of the available evidence, any conclusions regarding the effects of influenza vaccines for people aged 65 years or older cannot be drawn. The public health safety profile of the vaccines appears to be acceptable.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Vaccines to prevent influenza in healthy adults | Cochrane
We evaluated the effect of immunisation with influenza vaccines on preventing influenza A or B infections (efficacy), influenza-like illness (ILI) and its consequences (effectiveness), and determined whether exposure to influenza vaccines is associated with serious or severe harms. The target populations were healthy adults, including pregnant women and newborns.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
