Vaccines Today

15/10/2026

Healthcare professionals play an important role in encouraging patients to get vaccinated. But staying up to date on their own vaccinations is important, too.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention & Control (ECDC), vaccination rates among healthcare workers vary widely across Europe, ranging from 16 to 63%.

Health organisations are encouraging healthcare workers to get vaccinated against flu and COVID-19 to help protect themselves and their patients.

Read more:

Organisations representing European doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists encourage fellow healthcare professionals to get vaccinated.

14/10/2026

An estimated 60 million people live in the EU with cardiovascular disease (CVD). For people with CVD, flu infection can increase the risk of serious complications, including heart attack.

‘Vaccination against respiratory viruses can greatly reduce the risk of hospitalisations and complications associated with CVDs,’ says Brigit Berger, CEO of the European Heart Network.

As Europe approaches flu season, learn more about how vaccination can help protect heart health: https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/flu-vaccination-protects-heart-health/

People with cardiovascular disease are at higher risk of heart attack and stroke if infected with influenza

05/10/2026

Earlier this year, a meningitis outbreak linked to the University of Kent resulted in the deaths of two young people, a university student and a pupil at a local secondary school.

The outbreak raised questions about protection against meningococcal B disease, including whether some adolescents and young adults may have missed MenB vaccination.

On , Vaccines Today spoke with Dr. Shamez Ladhani at the UK Health Security Agency and Brian Davies at the Meningitis Research Foundation about the outbreak, MenB vaccination and what can be done to reduce the risk of meningitis.

Read more here:

A highly unusual outbreak caused two deaths and drew public attention to UK policy on meningitis prevention.

04/10/2026

Flu viruses are constantly changing. That’s why flu vaccines are reviewed and updated regularly to better match the strains expected to circulate during the upcoming season.

Watch our short video to see how experts decide what goes into each year’s flu vaccines.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/968ibSwofmI

Did you know flu viruses can change regularly? This makes it diff...

30/09/2026

In 2010, Rachael Thomas’ baby son Alexander died of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Today, as a member of ReSViNET’s RSV Patient Network Patient Advisory Board, she’s working to make sure other parents know about RSV and how they can protect their babies.

‘I’ve been on a personal mission since Alexander died to educate parents and caregivers, and medical professionals, about RSV,’ she says. ‘Because if we have education and we can prevent these diseases, then maybe we can save some lives.’

RSV can cause severe illness, particularly in babies and other vulnerable groups. Today, families have more options to protect babies from severe RSV, including maternal vaccination during pregnancy and preventive antibodies given directly to infants.

Read Rachael and Alexander’s story:

Rachael’s son died of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Now she is raising awareness of the disease and informing parents on how to protect their infants

26/09/2026

For people living with chronic lung disease, respiratory infections can lead to serious complications and hospitalisation. Yet vaccination rates among people at higher risk remain low.

‘Only around one third of these patients take the vaccines,’ says Professor Ildikó Horváth of Hungary’s National Korányi Institute for Pulmonology. ‘We want to improve this figure.’

What could help close that gap?

Read more about how vaccination can reduce the burden of chronic respiratory disease: https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/can-vaccination-reduce-the-burden-of-lung-disease/

A new €6 million European collaboration aims to improve lung health through digital technologies, health literacy and vaccination

24/09/2026

In the days after a respiratory infection, the risk of a heart attack or stroke can rise and may remain elevated for months.

Research has increasingly linked respiratory infections such as flu, COVID-19 and RSV with cardiovascular complications. Vaccination may also play a role in reducing those risks.

Vaccines Today spoke to Professor Colin Russell, co-chair of the Steering Group on Prevention of Respiratory Infections, about what the evidence shows and how Europe can increase vaccine uptake, especially among at-risk populations.

Read the interview here: https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/interview-the-evidence-linking-respiratory-infections-to-cardiovascular-disease-is-strong-and-growing/

Prof Colin Russell, Co-Chair of the Steering Group on Prevention of Respiratory Infections, explains how a new European Council Recommendation could enhance preventative health for people in at-risk groups

22/09/2026

What do infectious diseases have to do with chronic illness? More than we once thought.

Evidence is growing about the connections between infections such as influenza, COVID-19, and RSV and long-term health conditions.

In cardiology, professional guidance already recognizes the role vaccination against influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and herpes zoster can play for people with cardiovascular disease. Could other medical specialties follow?

Vaccines Today looks at the evolving evidence on the relationship between infectious diseases, chronic conditions, and vaccination.

Read more:
https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/respiratory-infections-and-long-term-illness-a-two-way-street/

People with diabetes and heart disease are at higher risk of catching viruses – and are hit hard if infected. Viruses may also trigger diabetes and increase stroke risk

19/09/2026

What if vaccines could help stop infections where many of them first enter the body?

Most vaccines are given by injection. But many respiratory viruses first encounter the immune system in the nose and other mucosal surfaces.

Researchers are exploring whether vaccines delivered through the nose could strengthen immunity at these entry points and potentially help reduce infection and transmission.

The NOSEVAC project, led by the Vaccine Initiative (EVI), is investigating how nasal vaccines could be developed to help prevent infectious diseases.

Read more about how nasal vaccines work and where the research stands: https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/how-nasal-vaccines-could-reduce-the-spread-of-disease

Today’s vaccines are delivered mainly by injection and they protect against disease – but could tomorrow’s vaccines also prevent transmission by entering the body through the nose?

17/09/2026

A case of influenza changed Davy Cotting and his wife Anaïs’s lives forever.

Anaïs developed rare, life-threatening complications from influenza that led to organ failure and amputations.

Davy shares what their family went through, how they rebuilt their lives, and why he wants others to understand how serious influenza can be.

Read their story: https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/how-my-wifes-flu-infection-changed-our-lives-forever/

🇫🇷 Lire l’article en français: https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/comment-linfection-grippale-de-ma-femme-a-change-nos-vies-pour-toujours/