Vaccines and immunisation

Vaccines and immunisations can help protect the body against infections. They 'prime' the immune system to recognise micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses. The UK's Childhood Immunisation Programme includes measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. influenza (flu) vaccine, pneumococcal vaccine and human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV). There are also many 'travel vaccines' for diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis.