World Immunisation Week
This week is World Immunisation Week (24th -30th April 2016) it is organised by the World Health Organisation to promote the importance of vaccines for immunisation at all stages of life. This is a cause that's very important to us at the Institute of Infection and Global Health.We've asked Dr Naor Bar-Zeev to give us a run down of why vaccines are so important and the Liverpool Malawi Vaccine Initiative.
Vaccines have been the greatest of all medical
interventions. They have literally changed the world. Eradicating diseases and
relegating previously common condition to what are today considered rare
events.Vaccines have been instrumental to reducing child
mortality globally. In developing countries where infectious diseases are still
the primary cause of child and adult mortality, vaccines are really vital.
Thankfully the University of Liverpool has been right at the forefront of
vaccine development and evaluation for over 2 decades. In Malawi researchers
from the Institute of Infection and Global Health (IGH) continuously track
infectious diseases and together with the Malawi Ministry of Health ensure the
best vaccines are trialled and introduced.
IGH research has evaluated measles,
rotavirus and pneumococcal vaccines and trials are soon concluding of an
important vaccine against malaria in newborns.
Data collected by at the Malawi-Liverpool-Clinical Reserch Programme led
by IGH helped Malawi introduce pneumococcal
conjugate vaccines and rotavirus vaccines earlier than other African sites.
The
benefits of these vaccines to disease and child mortality and to economic
growth have been shown by our research. Our field workers and epidemiologists
continuously work towards optimising the best use of vaccines to achieve the
greatest benefit. While our microbiologists and molecular biologists are on the
hunt for germs that mutate to escape the effect of vaccines, and are on a
constant search for new vaccine candidates. Together with Malawian clinicans
and scientists, these efforts ensure ongoing improvements in the health of
children in Malawi, and a productive and impactful scientific process that
maximises public health.
Join us throughout the week to find out more about our in vaccines. You can follow information from other organisations on Twitter using #VaccinesWork
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