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3rd World Congress on Vaccines and Immunisation

The 3rd World Congress on Vaccines and Immunisation held in Opatija Adriatic Riviera, Croatia was attended by ∼ 250 delegates from 37 countries. The conference covered all aspects of vaccination ranging from novel technologies for vaccine production and delivery to clinical trials as well as the economics of vaccination. The conference was organised by E Kurstak (University of Montreal, Canada), a pioneer in organising international conferences in infectious diseases. The conference consisted of four plenary sessions, six symposia and six workshops as well as poster sessions. The sessions not only clearly demonstrated the progress that is being made in helping reduce morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases globally, but also demonstrated the amount of work that still needs to be done to further reduce economic losses and personal hardships due to infectious diseases, as well as our vulnerability. This was clearly demonstrated by R Spier (University of Surrey, UK) in the introductory lecture entitled, ‘Bioterrorism and the Biotechnologist’. He challenged us to ‘imagine the unimaginable’ and then to design vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics to overcome these possibilities. Without this approach, we may never be prepared for these eventualities. He also challenged every member of society to be vigilant if we hope to reduce society’s vulnerability to these events. Although it is impossible to cover all the exciting developments that were presented, since a number of sessions were run concurrently, the following will provide highlights of some of the sessions ranging from economics of vaccination to vaccine technologies and delivery methods.