Updates from the 18th National Immunization Conference for Health Care Workers: Manchester Conference Centre,...

The annual National Immunization Conference (NIC) for Health Care Workers (HCW) was first held in 1989 with the aim of providing an update on current vaccine issues and new developments for any health worker involved with immunization. The conference has grown each year and continues to be of particular interest to Clinical Medical Officers, General Practitioners, Health Visitors, Practice Nurses, Occupational Health Practitioners, Paediatricians, Microbiologists, School Nurses and District Immunization Coordinators. Invited speakers are nationally and internationally renowned experts in their fields and there are usually around 150 delegates, mainly from the UK. The conference is organized by the University of Manchester Medical School and administration is carried out by the Stockport Foundation Trust Post-graduate Medical Department. Although the conference scientific program is largely concentrated on the use of vaccines as prophylactic agents, presentations around therapeutic immunization (exclusively in cancer treatment) have also been made recognizing that this is an area of growing interest and potential. The conference format combines presentations with extended periods of open discussion. The conclusions reached over the course of the conference are summarized here while conference video material for the past three conferences is freely available online as a learning resource (www.medicine.manchester.ac.uk).