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Immunisation research centre an Australian first |
Set up in March 1996, the Australian Centre for Immunisation Research is the only one of its kind in the country, although similar centres have already been established in the US and Europe.
Director of the Australian centre, Professor Margaret Burgess, says these centres fulfill the need to have an organisation that can critically evaluate the likely impact of vaccine preventable disease and immunisation, and undertake vaccine trials.
The centre is funded by the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children at Westmead and is a joint project involving the NSW Department of Health and the University of Sydney. It has departmental status in the hospital and the university.
Aims of the centre
Set up to look at vaccine preventable diseases in particular, the centre brings together experts in the fields of preventive medicine, paediatrics, infectious disease, epidemiology and laboratory science. It aims to increase and co-ordinate research on immunisation and vaccine preventable diseases, to offer a consultative service and advice to health professionals, to collaborate with researchers outside the centre, to promote vaccination, and to provide resources for studies.
Chicken pox
Professor Burgess says the centre has already completed some studies in collaboration with various public health units (PHU). For example, it has undertaken a big study on the epidemiology of chicken pox with South Western and Eastern Sydney PHUs, before vaccination changes it.
What is generally considered to be a mild childhood disease actually claims the lives of five Australian children every year.
“Once you look at it and start a research project, you find a lot more about the disease than you think. It is not all that different to the epidemiology of Hib before that vaccine was introduced,” Professor Burgess said.
“It is an example of what an organisation tuned in to do research can find by looking at the data and so on.”
In the US, the chicken pox vaccine is recommended for all children at 12 months. In Australia, the centre has just trialed chicken pox vaccine in non-immune health care workers.
Rotavirus infection
The centre is currently looking at the cost of community based morbidity of rotavirus infection in collaboration with the Eastern Sydney PHU. The hospital costs of this infection in NSW are $4.7 million a year. A vaccine is being trialed in the US and the centre wants to know the total morbidity costs of this disease versus the costs of introducing the vaccine here in Australia.
All-in-one vaccines
The problem Professor Burgess sees with these latest vaccines is how to fit them into the crowded immunisation schedule. However, she says the community is on the brink of getting all-in-one vaccines. The centre is about to start trials for a combination pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, Hib and hepatitis B vaccine. In the future, various types of combined vaccines will be available to make the process easier for parents and doctors.
Adverse vaccine events
In September, the centre will begin a research project to investigate severe adverse vaccine events.
Babies or children who have a serious adverse event after an immunisation, or who have a significant medical condition, may be referred to the hospital clinic for evaluation of their ongoing immnisation schedule.
The future
Oral vaccines for dental caries and peptic ulcers will be available in about five years.
Ultimately, Professor Burgess says that oral vaccines will replace injections in the childhood immunisation schedule. Within 10 years, vaccines will be given both orally and in multiple doses.
Vaccines are also being developed for some cancers such as carcinoma of the cervix, uterus, colon, and melanoma. At the moment, these vaccines are being tailormade for the individual to fight their particular antigens. The development of these vaccines is moving along rapidly.
Professor Burgess says the Australian Centre for Immunisation Research has made a big difference in the area of immunisation research in little over a year of operation. It has also generated much positive co-operation between different health fields and provided a welcome opportunity to work with healthcare workers in the community.
The Australian Centre for Immunisation Research can be contacted on ph (02) 9845 0000 or fax (02) 9845 3082.
This article was published in GPSpeak, the medical magazine of the Northern Rivers NSW, in August 1996.
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