[Editorial] The promise of lifelong vaccination

A News piece in this issue reports on the sixth Conference on Vaccines hosted by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Lisbon between Sept 10 and Sept 13. Adult immunisation was a key topic at the conference, with widespread support voiced for shifting industry and policy focus away from predominantly paediatric programmes towards lifelong vaccination initiatives. Despite the substantial global burden of vaccine-preventable disease among adults, most national vaccination programmes are still designed to reduce mortality and morbidity in children.