Disease-causing agents are all around us and are found in the environment and even in our own bodies. Viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa and worms can lead to severe illnesses and death of large numbers of people. Vaccines help to prevent diseases that cause permanent disability, serious illnesses and death. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers vaccine development one of our species' most significant global health achievements because vaccines save over four million lives every year.

This public health course outlines the history of the development of vaccines and explains how they work. We identify six types of vaccines and examine their significant contributions to the global control of infectious diseases. We then discuss the purpose of national immunisation programmes. We explain how each vaccine is produced and show you which methods possess the most potential for wide-scale application during immunisation. The course lays out the legal and medical requirements for vaccination of infants, children, adults, tourists and travellers.

We then investigate vaccine safety and the relevant regulations. The course teaches you how to treat anaphylaxis reactions resulting from vaccine antigens and components. We also explain how to carry out a risk evaluation for a specific vaccine and discuss the safety concerns of vaccines, the objectives of vaccine communication, the steps in vaccine development and the public health significance of a vaccine response strategy for a pandemic threat. The COVID-19 pandemic may have excited your interest in disease control so take this epidemiology course to understand vaccines and their role in protecting public health.