The Norwegian immunisation register--SYSVAK

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Immunology
• Health Informatics

Background:

• The Norwegian national immunisation register, SYSVAK, established nationwide in 1995.
• Mandatory electronic registration of vaccinations using personal identification numbers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To ensure adequate vaccination coverage for all children according to the Childhood Immunisation Programme schedule.
• To enable timely surveillance of vaccination coverage at regional and local levels for intervention decisions.
• To facilitate research on vaccine effectiveness, vaccine failure, and adverse events.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing mandatory notifications to SYSVAK based on personal identification numbers.
• Linking SYSVAK data with other national health registers for outcome diagnoses and disease surveillance.
• Adapting SYSVAK for daily surveillance during the 2009 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic.

Main Results:

• SYSVAK provides timely data on vaccine coverage, enabling granular analysis.
• The register supported active surveillance and intervention during the H1N1 pandemic.
• Data from SYSVAK are currently used in studies on adverse events following pandemic vaccination.

Conclusions:

• National immunisation registers like SYSVAK are crucial for high-quality surveillance of vaccination coverage, effectiveness, and safety.
• SYSVAK serves as a valuable resource for public health research and decision-making.
• Continued improvement of data quality and maximized data utilization are key future challenges.