Discipline of Pediatrics and Child Health and School of Public Health, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Case-control evaluation of a school-age BCG vaccination programme in subtropical Australia. Consequently, a one-off catch-up program for all school students was implemented during 1998-99.18.

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BCG is an abbreviation of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, meaning the bacilli of Calmette and Guerin. Catch-up for the HPV vaccine series (3 doses) is also being offered to males aged 14 to 15 years until the end of the 2014 school year.

ATAGI Bulletin #40th meeting. Many developed countries, including Australia, now recommend routine vaccination of adolescents. However it is currently scheduled to cease around the time when the first age-cohort eligible for the universal birth dose enters secondary school.

This was followed in 2003 by the National Meningococcal C Vaccination Program, targeting all children aged 1 to 19 years.20 The catch-up component of the program was delivered in both primary and secondary schools in two phases; students aged 15 to 19 years (grades 9 to 12); and students aged 6 to 14 years (pre-school to grade 8), plus any students aged 15 to 19 years who had missed being vaccinated in phase one.

Gidding HF, Warlow M, MacIntyre CR, et al. This, approach has demonstrated significant advantages over delivery through general practitioners (GPs) alone.7,8 However it has not been uniformly introduced nationally due to the differences in political support and the legislative and public health systems across the states and territories. Using existing records and the recollection of experts we have compiled a history of school-based vaccination in Australia, primarily focusing on adolescents. Interim estimates of human papillomavirus vaccination coverage in the school-based program in Australia. 2003. This form uses a CAPTCHA to ensure that it is submitted by a person, instead of a machine or automated software. In 2005, varicella vaccine was included on the funded NIP schedule at 18 months and as a catch-up for non-immune adolescents aged 10 to 13 years.26 From 2006 the adolescent dose was delivered through existing jurisdiction-wide school-based vaccination programs in all states and territories except Queensland.27 The catch-up dose of varicella vaccine for adolescents is currently scheduled to cease after 2015, when the first cohort eligible for the infant dose will reach the age at which the adolescent catch-up dose is currently offered. The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance is supported by the Australian Government Department of Health (DoH), the NSW Ministry of Health and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. This article uses existing records and the recollection of experts to compile a history of school-based vaccination in Australia, primarily focusing on adolescents. The most recent addition to the routine school-based vaccination program in Australia came with the National Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Program. As part of larger mass vaccination programs, school-based delivery of diphtheria, polio, and tuberculosis vaccines contributed substantially to the rapid decline of these diseases in the mid to late 1900s.9,11 Although coverage data from early programs is limited, state/territory data from routine school-based vaccination programs illustrates good uptake (65% to 80%), particularly in late primary school and lower secondary school grades.24,29,30 Uptake in routine school-based vaccination programs has been consistently higher than that achieved by other strategies to vaccinate adolescents, such as mandates for school entry,31 or GP delivery.7,8,16 Evaluations of the impact of several school-based vaccination programs have identified significantly higher levels of immunity in population cohorts vaccinated through these programs compared with those who have not.32-34 Despite evidence of their success there is still room for improvement in school-based program delivery in Australia.

Available from: http://www1.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/advisory-bodies (Link was correct at the time of publication.).

By the mid-2000s all states and territories except Queensland had established routine jurisdiction-wide school-based vaccination programs. The Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine since its first use in 1921 has been the subject of much controversy as to its effectiveness and applicability. We wish to acknowledge the dedication of all those involved in the delivery of school-based vaccination programs in Australia.

New Australian immunisation guidelines.

As adolescents have become an increasingly prominent target group for vaccination, school-based vaccination has emerged as an efficient and effective method of delivering nationally recommended vaccines to this often hard to reach group. National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

A report on Australia’s Measles Control Campaign. Much of the historical literature about vaccination in Australia omits detail on school-based delivery. 1991;17(11):226-236.


Although some continued with the school-based approach to deliver adult diphtheria–tetanus vaccine (ADT) and oral polio vaccine (OPV) to adolescents, more than 25 years elapsed before the next major national school-based vaccination program was implemented (Table 1). 2009. Patel A, Schofield F, Siskind V, et al. Key words: immunization, vaccination, adolescent, school vaccination.

Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation. The vaccine continues to be offered in later secondary school grades, though more recently there has been a recommendation for it to be offered at a younger age (11 to 13 years) in either the last year of primary school (grade 6 or 7) or first year of secondary school (grade 7 or 8).25. Corresponding Author: Kirsten Ward, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS), Cnr Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead NSW 2148, Ph: 02 9845 0123, Fax: 02 9845 1418, Email: [email protected], Search Communicable Diseases Intelligence, Communicable Diseases Intelligence subscriptions. Communicable Disease Control Conference 2003: Communicable Diseases A fight we can win?

Furesz J, Nagler FP. BCG vaccination is still considered an important strategy in the National Tuberculosis Programs of countries with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB) because of its benefit to infants but its effect on the control of TB has been limited. Vaccine preventable diseases and vaccination coverage in Australia, 1999 to 2000. This annual rate declined from 48 per 100 000 in the late 1940s as a result of a highly successful national tuberculosis control program involving active case finding, standardised treatment, mass X-ray surveys and widespread BCG vaccination. Participation is voluntary, and written parental consent is required for each course of vaccine. In 2000, the nationally recommended cohort for receipt of the adolescent catch-up dose of hepatitis B was revised to include only 10 to 13 year olds, and from 2000–04 jurisdictions shifted to a two dose schedule.10 Hepatitis B vaccine is now provided routinely in all jurisdictions, either in the last year of primary school or the first year of secondary school. Menser M, Forrest J, Bransby R. Rubella vaccination in Australia: 1. a five year follow up of vaccinated schoolgirls.

1 Most of these strategies were abandoned in the mid-1980s with the decline in tuberculosis, but there are worrying signs that the decline has halted and that rates of infection in Australia …

Accessed on 18 March 2011. Anon. In addition to funding the vaccine, the Australian Government provided time-limited funds to support school-based delivery of the catch-up program in all states and territories. Recommended immunization schedules for persons aged 0 through 18 years—United States, 2011.

© Commonwealth of AustraliaABN: 83 605 426 759, Australian Government Department of Health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, National Health (Immunisation Program Designated Vaccines) Determination 2009 (No.3). This strategy will continue to evolve in response to available evidence and increased availability of, and recommendations for, adolescent vaccines.

National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS), The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, New South Wales, Australia. Australian Government Department of Health. 2010, Evaluation of the school-based vaccination program (2007–2009). From February 2013 school-based vaccination programs commenced offering HPV vaccine to males aged 12-13 years (grade 7 or 8) on an ongoing basis. Impact of the Australian Measles Control Campaign on immunity to measles and rubella. This includes understanding operational factors that optimise uptake and enhancing coverage beyond the current levels to maximise population immunity as disease incidence decreases. Indexes | Current issue | Disclaimer In Queensland, nationally recommended adolescent vaccines were predominantly delivered through general practitioners, although routine school-based vaccination programs operated in some local government areas and health service districts. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). From April 2007 the quadrivalent HPV vaccine became freely available to females aged 12 to 26 years with those aged 12 to 18 years primarily vaccinated at school.28 During 2007–08 a catch-up program for all female secondary school students was delivered using an accelerated schedule with targeted school grades varying across jurisdictions.29 From 2009 HPV vaccine has been provided routinely to girls aged 12 to 13 years of age in either the last year of primary school (grade 7 or 8) or first year of secondary school (grade 7 or 8).

Forsyth KD, Wirsing von Konig CH, Tan T, et al. Quinn HE, McIntyre PB.

In 1945, Dr Nancy Atkinson, a bacteriologist at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science in Adelaide, produced the first Australian made Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against TB. Where possible, formal written records were identified to supplement and verify the information provided at the time of interview. The availability of an adult formulation of diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccine (dTpa),21,22 and the recognition of increasing pertussis incidence in adolescents prompted the addition of dTpa vaccine to the NIP in November 2003.23 This replaced the previously recommended ADT booster dose for 15 to 17 year olds. Managed at a state or territory level, current school-based vaccination programs in Australia offer nationally recommended and Australian Government funded vaccines to adolescents in specific school grades using local teams of trained vaccination providers. Ward KF, Menzies RI, Quinn HE, et al.

Accessed on 13 April 2008. Coulter C, Wood R, Robson J. Rubella infection in pregnancy.

Thanks to state/territory immunisation program managers and the many others who provided valuable information on the history of school-based vaccination in Australia.