Links to further information

The Green Book is the UK Department of Health's guide to Immunisation Against Infectious Disease. It is aimed at healthcare professionals who immunise, and has the latest information on vaccines and vaccination procedures in the UK.

Public Health England publishes statistical data about infectious diseases:

• chickenpox
• diphtheria
• hepatitis A
• hepatitis B
• Hib disease
• HPV (additional data on cervical cancer from Cancer Research UK)
• influenza (seasonal flu)
• measles
• meningococcal disease
• mumps
• pertussis (whooping cough)
• pneumococcal disease
• polio
• rotavirus
• rubella
• shingles
• tetanus
• tuberculosis (TB)

All drugs have both a Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) and a Patient Information Leaflet (PIL). These documents contain much of the same information, but are written with different audiences in mind: the SPC is aimed at medical professionals, while the PIL is aimed at patients. People without a medical background are advised to use the PILs as they are easier to understand. However, we have given links to most of the SPCs as well. (Department of Health advice is based on the most up-to-date information on each vaccine and may be slightly different from the information in some of the SPCs and PILs.)

The list below contains all the vaccines currently used in the UK by the NHS. Other vaccines have been licensed for use in the UK and may occasionally be used (for example, by private providers). If in doubt ask for the trade name of the vaccine and a copy of the Patient Information Leaflet.

• The UK government's advisory committee on vaccination: the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
• UK Health Security Agency
• Public Health Scotland
• NHS information on vaccinations
• The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which regulates medicines, including vaccines, in the UK. The MHRA runs the Yellow Card scheme for reporting suspected problems or side effects of medicines and medical devices.

The World Health Organization's Vaccine Safety Net has a list of websites worldwide that meet its assessment criteria.

NaTHNaC (the National Travel Health Network and Centre) provides up to date and reliable information on travel vaccines for UK travellers on its Travel Health Pro pages. NaTHNaC is commissioned by the UK government through Public Health England.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has a useful website which lets you compare vaccination schedules from all the countries in the EU/EEA.

The World Health Organization has a webpage which allows you to view all the vaccines routinely offered in any country in the world. Select your country of interest from the drop-down menu.

The History of Vaccines is an educational website created by The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, one of the oldest medical societies in the United States.

The Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is a US website with detailed information about vaccines and infectious diseases.

The Understanding Health Research website has a useful online tool for making sense of health studies.

Moving and informative personal stories about people affected by meningitis and other infectious diseases can be found at:

• Meningitis Research Foundation - Book of Experience
• Meningitis Now - Personal Stories
• Shot by Shot - stories of vaccine preventable diseases has written stories and films about people affected by infectious disease