Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety, 12-13 June 2013

Overview

The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS), an expert clinical and scientific advisory body, was established by WHO to provide independent scientifically rigourous advice on vaccine safety issues of potential global importance.1 GACVS held its 28th meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on 12–13 June 2013.2 The committee reviewed 7 specific issues: (i) the experience of 4 Asian countries with the use of Hib-containing pentavalent vaccine; (ii) the safety profile of varicella vaccines; (iii) the safety of immunization during pregnancy; (iv) the monitoring of yellow fever vaccine safety during mass vaccination campaigns in Africa; (v) the safety profile of Japanese encephalitis vaccines; and (vi) updates on the risk of narcolepsy related to the use of the pandemic influenza vaccine Pandemrix® and (vii) recent data from the post-licensure monitoring of human papillomavirus vaccines.