Cholera is usually caused by ingesting infected food or water. It is characterised by the sudden onset of diarrhoea and can result in severe dehydration.

Cholera vaccine is recommended for children (≥2 years of age) and adult travellers who:

• have a high risk of acquiring diarrhoeal disease

• are travelling to areas where there is a high likelihood of exposure to cholera

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. It affects people of all ages. Older adults and people with certain medical conditions have an increased risk of severe disease or death from COVID-19.

COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for:

• all people aged 18 years and older

• children aged 6 months to <17 years with medical conditions that may increase their risk of severe disease or death from COVID-19

Diphtheria is an acute illness caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Infection can produce a thick membrane in the pharynx, causing severe respiratory obstruction.

The bacteria produce a toxin that can cause life-threatening heart failure and paralysis.

Diphtheria-toxoid vaccine is recommended for:

• routine vaccination in infants, children and adolescents

• routine booster vaccination in adults, including those in special risk groups such as

  • pregnant women

  • laboratory workers

  • travellers to countries where health services are difficult to access

• vaccination of people who have missed doses of diphtheria-containing vaccine

Haemophilus influenzae is a bacterium that is a normal part of the upper respiratory tract flora. H. influenzae type b (Hib) can cause invasive diseases in children and in people who are immunocompromised.

These diseases include bacterial meningitis, pneumonia, epiglottitis, septic arthritis and cellulitis.

Hib-containing vaccine is recommended for:

• routine vaccination in infants and children

• infants and children <5 years of age who have missed a dose of Hib-containing vaccine

• people who are immunocompromised, including people with asplenia and people who have received a haematopoietic stem cell transplant

Hepatitis A is an acute viral infection of the liver, which can cause mild to severe illness. The illness is usually self-limiting and needs no treatment. It is transmitted primarily by the faecal–oral route by ingesting contaminated food and water, or by direct contact with an infectious person.

Hepatitis A is highly contagious.

Hepatitis A vaccination is recommended for:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) children living in the NT, QLD, SA & WA

• people with medical risk factors, including chronic liver disease and developmental disabilities

• people whose occupation increases their risk of acquiring hepatitis A, including

  • people who live or work in rural and remote ATSI communities in the NT, QLD, SA, WA

  • people who regularly provide care for ATSI children in the NT, QLD, SA, WA

  • early childhood educators and carers

  • carers of people with developmental disabilities

  • plumbers and sewage workers

• people aged ≥1 year who travel to hepatitis A–endemic areas

• people whose lifestyle increases their risk of acquiring hepatitis A, including

  • people who have anal intercourse (including men who have sex with men, and sex industry workers)

  • people who inject drugs

  • inmates of correctional facilities

Hepatitis B is an infection caused by HepB virus that affects the liver. HepB virus may be transmitted by inoculation through broken or penetrated skin, or by mucosal contact with blood or other body fluids (mainly vaginal fluids and semen) from an infectious person.

Hepatitis B vaccination is recommended for:

• infants

• ATSI people

• people who are immunocompromised, including people

  • with HIV

  • with severely impaired renal function

  • on dialysis

  • before solid organ transplant

  • after haematopoietic stem cell transplant

• people with medical risk factors, including

  • people with hepatitis C

  • people with chronic liver disease

  • preterm and low-birthweight infants

  • people who receive blood products

  • people with developmental disabilities

• people whose occupation increases their risk of acquiring hepatitis B, including

  • healthcare workers

  • police, members of the armed forces, emergency services staff and staff of correctional facilities

  • staff of facilities caring for people with developmental disabilities

  • funeral worker and embalmers

  • tattooists and body-piercers

• travellers to hepatitis B–endemic areas who may be at increased risk

• people whose circumstances increase their risk of acquiring hepatitis B, including

  • infants born to mothers who are hepatitis B surface antigen–positive

  • household or other close contacts of people with hepatitis B

  • sexual contacts of people with hepatitis B

  • men who have sex with men

  • migrants from hepatitis B–endemic countries

  • people who inject drugs

  • inmates of correctional facilities

  • sex industry workers

Herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, is a reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in a person who has previously had varicella (chickenpox). Herpes zoster commonly presents as a painful, self-limiting vesicular rash in a dermatomal distribution.

Zoster vaccines are recommended for:

• people aged ≥50 years who are immunocompetent

• people aged ≥18 years who are immunocompromised

There are several types of human papillomavirus (HPV) that infect cutaneous and mucosal epithelial tissues. Most people clear HPV infections, but the virus persists in some cases.

HPV vaccine is recommended for:

• adolescents and young adults aged 9–25 years

• people with severely immunocompromising conditions

• men who have sex with men

Influenza is a common disease of the respiratory tract. It affects people of all ages.

Annual influenza vaccination is recommended for everyone ≥6 months of age.

Influenza vaccination is particularly recommended for:

• children aged 6 months to <5 years

• adults aged ≥65 years

• ATSI people

• people with medical conditions that increase their risk of severe influenza

• people experiencing homelessness

• pregnant women

• healthcare workers, carers and household contacts of people in high-risk groups

• residents, staff, volunteers and visitors to aged care and long-term residential facilities

• commercial poultry and pork industry workers

• people who provide essential community services

• people who are travelling during influenza season

People with the following medical conditions have a higher risk of severe influenza:

• immunocompromising conditions, such as HIV, malignancy, functional or anatomical asplenia, and chronic steroid use

• receiving immuno-oncology therapy

• received a haematopoietic stem cell or solid organ transplant

• cardiac disease

• Down syndrome

• obesity

• chronic respiratory conditions

• chronic neurologic conditions

• chronic liver disease

• other chronic illnesses that need medical follow-up or hospitalisation

• long-term aspirin therapy in children (aged 6 months to 10 years)

• preterm infants (<37 weeks gestation)

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a rare but serious illness caused by infection with the mosquito-borne JE-virus. The disease mainly affects the central nervous system.

JE vaccines are recommended for:

• routine vaccination of anyone in a JE-risk region of Australia who may be bitten by mosquitoes

• routine vaccination of laboratory workers who may be exposed to JE-virus

• routine vaccination of travellers to endemic areas outside Australia during the JE-virus transmission season

• routine vaccination of people who live or work on the outer islands of Torres Strait

Measles is a highly infectious viral illness that is transmitted by respiratory aerosols.

Measles-containing vaccine is recommended for:

• children ≥12 months of age

• adolescents and adults born during or since 1966 who have not received 2 doses of measles-containing vaccine, particularly

  • healthcare workers

  • childhood educators and carers

  • people who work in long-term care facilities

  • people who work in correctional facilities

  • travellers

Meningococcal disease is caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis. The bacterium is commonly known as meningococcus.

There are 13 known meningococcal serogroups, though globally, serogroups A, B, C, W and Y most commonly cause disease.

Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a rare but serious disease. It most commonly presents as septicaemia and/or meningitis.

Meningococcal vaccines are recommended for:

• infants, children, adolescents and young adults

• special risk groups, including:

  • ATSI people

  • individuals with certain medical conditions

  • laboratory workers who frequently handle Neisseria meningitidis,

• travellers

• young adults who live in close quarters or who are current smokers

Monkey Pox (Mpox) is a viral zoonotic disease. Mpox is usually self-limiting, but it can cause severe illness, particularly in people who are immunocompromised, children, and pregnant women.

Primary vaccination against mpox is recommended for groups at risk of exposure. This includes:

• gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), including transgender and gender-diverse people

• sex workers, particularly those whose clients are at risk of mpox exposure

• people with HIV, if at risk of mpox exposure 

• other individuals whose sexual networks might include GBMSM 

• travellers to a clade I mpox region who may undertake sexual risk activities

• laboratory personnel working with orthopoxviruses

Primary vaccination may also be considered for:

• healthcare and humanitarian workers at risk of exposure to mpox

Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is recommended for medium and high-risk contacts as soon as possible, and up to 14 days following exposure to an infectious case. 

Mumps is an acute viral illness. Symptomatic disease can range from mild upper respiratory symptoms to widespread systemic involvement.

Mumps-containing vaccine is recommended for:

• children ≥12 months of age

• adolescents and adults born during or since 1966 who have not received 2 doses of mumps-containing vaccine

Pertussis, commonly known as ‘whooping cough’, is a disease of the respiratory tract caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. It is highly infectious in unvaccinated people.

In Australia, pertussis epidemics usually occur every 3–4 years.

Pertussis vaccine is recommended for:

• routine vaccination in infants, children and adolescents

• routine booster vaccination in adults, including those in special risk groups or in contact with a special risk group, such as

  • women who are pregnant or breastfeeding

  • healthcare workers

  • early childhood educators and carers

  • people in close contact with infants

• vaccination of people who have missed doses of pertussis-containing vaccine

Pneumococcal disease is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae. It can cause severe invasive disease, including meningitis, pneumonia and bacteraemia, and non-invasive disease, including otitis media.

Pneumococcal vaccine is recommended for:

• infants and children

• all adults aged ≥70 years

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged ≥50 years

• people with risk conditions for pneumococcal disease

Poliomyelitis or polio is an acute illness caused by gastrointestinal infection with 1 of the 3 types of poliovirus. The infection rate in households with susceptible young children can reach 100%.

Inactivated poliovirus (IPV) vaccine or IPV-containing vaccine is recommended for:

• routine vaccination of infants and children

• routine booster vaccination in adults at higher risk of exposure to polio, such as healthcare workers and laboratory workers who may have contact with polio cases or poliovirus, and travellers to areas or countries where polio is epidemic or endemic

• vaccination of adolescents and adults who have never received polio vaccine

Q-fever is caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii. C. burnetii infects wild and domestic animals, and their ticks. Humans are mainly infected from cattle, sheep and goats.

Q fever vaccine is recommended for adolescents aged ≥15 years and adults who are at risk of infection with C. burnetii. These include:

• abattoir workers

• farmers

• stockyard workers

• shearers

• animal transporters (of high-risk animals such as cattle, camels, sheep, goats and kangaroos)

• veterinarians, veterinary nurses and veterinary students

• professional dog and cat breeders

• pet food manufacturing workers

• agricultural college staff and students

• wildlife and zoo workers who work with high-risk animals, including kangaroos and bandicoots

• animal refuge workers (including those working in animal shelters and boarding facilities)

• people who cull or process kangaroos or camels

• laboratory workers who handle veterinary specimens or work with C. burnetii

• other people exposed to high-risk animals

People should have both serological and skin tests before vaccination.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease caused by exposure to saliva or neural tissue from an animal infected with rabies virus or other lyssaviruses. Human exposure can occur through an animal scratch or bite that has broken the skin, or by direct contact of the virus with the mucosal surface of a person, such as nose, eye or mouth.

Pre-exposure rabies vaccine is recommended for:

• people who have contact with bats

• people who travel to rabies-enzootic regions, based on a risk assessment

• laboratory workers who work with live lyssaviruses

Post-exposure rabies vaccine and, in some cases, human rabies immunoglobulin are recommended for anyone who has potentially been exposed to rabies virus or other lyssaviruses.

Tetanus is caused by a bacterium found in soil. The bacteria can enter wounds and produce a neurotoxin that acts on the central nervous system to cause muscle rigidity with painful spasms. Tetanus-toxoid vaccines prevent disease by making antibodies that bind to the toxin, rather than the bacteria.

Tetanus vaccine is recommended for:

• routine vaccination in infants, children and adolescents

• routine booster vaccination in adults, including travellers to countries where health services are difficult to access

• post-exposure prophylaxis in people with a tetanus-prone wound

• vaccination of people who have missed doses of tetanus-toxoid vaccine

Tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Most people who become infected with M. tuberculosis have latent tuberculosis infection, which means they are not ill and not infectious. People with tuberculosis disease, in contrast, are ill and usually infectious.

BCG (bacille Calmette–Guérin) vaccine is recommended for:

• ATSI children aged <5 years in some parts of Australia

• Healthcare workers with a high risk of exposure to tuberculosis

• Young children who will be travelling to settings with high tuberculosis incidence

• Some children born to parents from countries with high tuberculosis incidence

• Young children who are a household contact of a person with leprosy

Typhoid fever is caused by a systemic infection with Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhi. It is transmitted mainly through faecally contaminated food and water.

Typhoid vaccination is recommended for:

• military personnel

• laboratory workers who routinely work with Salmonella Typhi

• travellers aged ≥2 years travelling to typhoid-endemic regions

Varicella is a highly contagious infection caused by varicella-zoster virus. Primary infection with varicella-zoster virus causes varicella (chickenpox).

Varicella-containing vaccine is recommended for:

• children aged ≥12 months to <14 years

• adolescents aged ≥14 years and adults who are non-immune, particularly

  • healthcare workers

  • childhood educators and carers

  • people who work in long-term care facilities

Yellow fever is a viral disease that is transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Complications from yellow fever can be severe and can cause death.

Yellow fever vaccine is recommended for:

• people who work in laboratories with the yellow fever virus

• people aged ≥9 months who are travelling to an area with a risk of yellow fever virus transmission