Immunisation registers – important for vaccinated individuals, vaccinators and public health

Vaccines save lives, protect against disability and improve health. Diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, invasive diseases related to Haemophilus influenzae type b and Neisseria meningitides group C infection, that only half a century ago were all communicable disease threats to Europeans, are now rare entities or, as in the case of smallpox, eradicated [1]. Consequently, some of them are almost forgotten by the younger general public. However, despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines against measles and rubella and the considerable decline in the number of cases in the last decades, Europe is still struggling to eliminate them. In 2011 alone, over 30,000 cases of measles and more than 3,000 cases of rubella were reported in the European Union (EU) [2]. To help improve coverage with recommended vaccines in the childhood and other age or risk group-specific immunisation programmes and assess their impact, immunisation registers have been or are being developed in a number of countries. In a special issue of Eurosurveillance, published in two parts in this and the following week, country-specific experiences with established immunisation registers are shared in a series of articles [3-11].