Editor's column

A print friendly PDF version is available from this Communicable Diseases Intelligence issue's table of contents.

We received both compliments and criticisms of our last issue of Communicable Diseases Intelligence, confirming that people do read and appreciate the journal even if they do not always agree with it. Please continue to send us your feedback as it is only by hearing from our readers that we can make the sorts of improvements that will keep CDI relevant and useful.

This issue of CDI features a report of the workshop on pertussis vaccines (p 125) convened by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases in August 1997. As well as providing a summary of the history of pertussis vaccines, the report highlights some of the complexities that face us in making decisions about which vaccines should be incorporated into the Standard Vaccination Schedule. These complexities will increase as the range of diseases for which vaccines are available expands and more combination vaccines come on to the market. The report also discusses some issues in the evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of vaccines used in population programs. Such evaluations are relatively new but likely to be of increasing importance in vaccine scheduling decisions. With the launch of the Measles Control Program this month, the article by Burgess et al on adverse events following measles immunisation (p 136) is both timely and reassuring. The slight increase in notifications of meningococcal disease noted in the Communicable Diseases Highlights on page 139 reminds us that we are entering the peak season for meningococcal disease. The short report by Harvey (p 134) reviews the 1997 meningococcal disease data and points to the need for increased vigilance to diagnose cases early and commence treatment promptly. There is nothing like claiming that something is a first to provoke correspondence to the Editor. Following reminders of two other reports of infant botulism, we have published (p 133) a clarification of the editorial comment that accompanied last issue's case report.

This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Vol 22 No 7, 9 July 1998.