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Updates & News

JULY 2026

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UPDATES FOR ALL

1st July: Vaccine update has landed. Check out the MenB special.

16th July: Flu vaccines 2027 to 2028: JCVI advice is here... check out the addition of aIIVc - and a possible (but-unlikely-due-to-cost) mRNA flu vaccine!

16th July 2026: JCVI have clearly been busy with future planning because this statement about 2027 from JCVI also arrived today: COVID-19 vaccination in autumn 2027. They advise that in autumn 2027 vaccination should be offered to adults aged 80 years and over, residents in a care home for older adults, and individuals aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed. Worth noting the age change there...

16th July: The national flu vaccination programme training slide set 2026 to 2027 is here!! Check them out :-)

22nd July: A humanitarian worker in the DRC has been medically evacuated to the UK after a potential healthcare‑related exposure to Ebola. There were three confirmed Ebola cases in the UK between 2014 and 2015 - all involving healthcare workers returning from west Africa. All recovered and there was no onward transmission. However, things are not great in Africa sadly. As of 19 July the DRC government has recorded 2,423 confirmed cases of Ebola, including 967 deaths, since the outbreak was declared in mid-May.

21st July 2026: Few tweaks to the Influenza vaccines marketed in the UK poster.

23rd July 2026: The interactive flu immunisation e-learning programme, written by UKHSA, and produced by Health Education England’s e-Learning for Healthcare has been published. Get your flu stickers here!

27th July: Keeping up to date TIP!! emc change notifications are now live on emc. Automatic alerts whenever an SmPC, PIL or aRMM changes for a medicine you follow, follow as many or as few as you need and enjoy confidence that you’re always working from the most current medicines information (although remember Green Book guidance often trumps SPC guidance if there is a discrepancy).

29th July: We have an RSV VGD!!! The PGD inclusion criteria has also been extended in the older adults’ programme to incorporate updated JCVI recommendations for those with underlying health conditions, aged 65 to 74 years of age.

The July Vaccine Update is here!

30th July: nice news to end the month - personalised cancer vaccines becoming a reality...

CHILDHOOD/ADOLESCENT/YOUNG ADULT IMMUNISATION NEWS

Don't forget the MMR catch up campaign starting on 7th July for the 6-11s! Get the supplies in. While we are on measles vaccines, don't forget about this Important notice from GSK about reconstitution of MMRV Priorix Tetra.

7th July: Another rotavirus update around interchangeability of vaccines. More about this in the portal.

7th July: MMRV catch-up campaign – clarifying the latest NHSE announcement - which is this if you haven't seen it: "Around a million parents urged to book new ‘four-in-one’ NHS jab to protect young children against measles"

The announcement above encouraging parents of children aged 1–11 years to book the new four-in-one MMRV vaccine might understandably cause some confusion. While the public messaging refers broadly to the "new four-in-one jab", the operational guidance for practices distinguishes between the current measles catch-up campaign and the separate selective varicella catch-up programme.

Basically:

  • Children aged 12 months to under 6 years: GP practices should proactively call and recall eligible children who are missing one or two doses of measles-containing vaccine.

  • Children aged 6–11 years: A phased national invitation programme will encourage parents to contact their GP if their child is missing MMR. Practices should check vaccination status and offer vaccination where clinically appropriate, but this is not the same proactive call-and-recall programme.

What about MMRV?

A separate selective varicella (MMRV) catch-up programme begins on 1 November 2026 and runs until 31 March 2028. This is not for all children aged 6–11 years. It is limited to children born between 1 January 2020 and 31 August 2022 who have not had chickenpox or received two doses of varicella vaccine. Children born on or before 31 December 2019 remain eligible for catch-up MMR, but are not included in the selective varicella catch-up.

My concern is that some parents may ask whether they should delay MMR vaccination until November in the hope of receiving MMRV instead. Current national guidance does not recommend delaying measles vaccination. The purpose of the current campaign is to improve protection against measles as soon as possible, following recent outbreaks and the loss of measles elimination status in England.

8th July: A country that made huge progress on measles now reports 120,000 cases

16th July: Exciting prospects!!...along with the COVID and flu advice above, JCVI has also published new recommendations for a routine adolescent MenB vaccination prog today. I've been eagerly waiting for this as I'm sure a lot of you have. The Department of Health and Social Care will consider the recommendation before a decision is made on any changes to the NHS MenB vaccination schedule but it looks promising for a menB routine vaccine for the teens! Read all about it here. Further info in Vaccine Update which came towards the end of July.

20th July: The children'f flu poster is here!

20th July: GOOD LUCK to those of you who are starting the MenB adolescent vaccines today. Here's a reminder of where you can find all the key guidance around this time-limited offer.

TRAVEL HEALTH NEWS

2nd July: The extremely sad case of the 11 year old boy who died of rabies in Canada when he woke up to a bat on his face, has featured a lot in the news lately. The incident happened in 2004 but the full case report has just been published in a journal recently which is why it is getting a lot of news attention.

Also on 2nd July, the WHO reported a confirmed case of Marburg Disease (MARD) in Kyegegwa district, Western Uganda. NaTHNaC has published a news item on it.

Sexually transmitted Shigella - worth knowing: UKHSA figures show that the number of Shigella infections in England thought to have been passed on through sexual contact rose from 2,052 cases in 2023 to 2,560 in 2025. A study published in The Lancet looked at 3,514 samples of one type of Shigella, collected from people aged 16 and over across the UK between 2004 and 2020. The researchers found that strains linked to sexual transmission appeared to spread over much greater distances. Closely related strains were found an average of around 117 km apart, compared with around 46 km for strains not linked to sexual transmission. Antibiotic resistance was also more common. Around 69% of the sexually transmitted strains were resistant to at least one antibiotic used to treat the infection, compared with 40% of other UK-acquired strains and 49% of strains linked to overseas travel. And in case you're wondering, check out this article: Shigella vaccine shows promise in phase 2 trial

Please take a look at this NaTHNaC study and consider participating if you are involved in risk assessment where Japanese Encephalitis vaccines are concerned.

New link to the RCN Travel Health Nursing Career and Competence Development doc (although note it is still under review).

14th July: A traveller who contracted Ebola in the DRC arrived in Germany for treatment. The patient was a humanitarian worker who had been in Bunia, the capital of the north-eastern Ituri, which is at the center of the Ebola outbreak declared in mid-May.

14th July: Nigeria’s Lassa fever death count surpasses 2025 as outbreak worsens

15th July: The new malaria vaccine helps in Africa but faces a test: Completing all 4 doses

16th July: UKHSA has published the case numbers of selected travel-associated infections reported in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: January to June 2026. Catch the highlights here.

16th July: WHO: Uganda is silent on updates following disclosure of Marburg outbreak

There has been a major cyclosporiasis outbreak in America, with thousands of cases reported across more than 30 states. The intestinal illness has been linked to contaminated shredded iceberg lettuce served at some Taco Bell restaurants in five states. Take care with those lovely summer picnics!

Measles in Maldives: The Resurgence of a Scourge

21st July: Rabies Post Exposure Guidance updated: Advisory notices have been raised by the Philippines FDA regarding the distribution of falsified rabies vaccines in the Philippines. The falsified vaccines were relabelled as Speeda and Vaxirab-N vaccines. The UKHSA is undertaking a review of the records of individuals who have received rabies vaccine as part of their PEP course in the Philippines, and is in the process of contacting GPs if their patients are recommended to receive additional vaccines to complete their PEP. Anyone with concerns about a patient who may have received falsified rabies vaccine in the Philippines can contact RIgS for further advice.

27th July: First volunteer vaccinated in Ebola vaccine trial

26th July: Explosive mpox outbreak causes 3,000 cases in Madagascar

BE AWARE THAT THE NaTHNaC HELPLINE PHONE NUMBER IS CHANGING ON 24TH AUGUST. MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW.

ADULT IMMUNISATION NEWS

1st July 2026: Look what's here... another RSV expansion! Read all about it here: RSV vaccination: expansion of eligibility to older adults in certain clinical risk groups (from 1 September 2026). Amended PGD and new VGD should become available in August.

Alongside the measles drive below, there is also an NHS England national RSV invitation campaign to support uptake of RSV. During July, invitations will be sent to individuals aged 80 years and over that became eligible for the older adults RSV vaccination programme from 1 April 2026. The invitation will advise people to contact their general practice to book an RSV vaccination appointment. In areas where community pharmacy providers are commissioned to deliver RSV vaccinations, the invitation will also include a link to the National Booking Service and RSV walk-in service finder. Try to make sufficient capacity to meet the expected increase in demand for RSV vaccination appointments...

On the topic of RSV, here's my latest blog: RSV, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, and the Psychology of Rare Risks

6th July: Updates to this important guidance: Inadvertent vaccination in pregnancy (VIP) - Advice for health professionals on pregnant women who are inadvertently vaccinated against chicken pox (varicella), shingles or measles, mumps, rubella.

14th July: Just spotted this news (after logging off an annual imms update so I hope those lovely delegates spot this if you are now browsing my site :-) : Information on the inclusion of people experiencing homelessness (PEH) as a new clinical risk group eligible for pneumococcal vaccination from 1 October 2026.

20th July: Template for GPs to invite patients at risk of flu due to a medical condition or age, and their carers, to have their annual flu vaccine updated

Don't forget to check out this new slideset about co-oadministration of adult vaccines!

My reading list this month