Assessing the health burden of vaccine-preventable infections in European adults: challenges and opportunities translated into action

Accurate information on the health burden of vaccine-preventable infections (VPIs) is needed to support evidence-informed vaccine policy recommendations and programmes in Europe. The inaugural technical meeting of the Adult Immunization Board (AIB), held in Antwerp, Belgium, on 20–21 April 2023, convened international experts and was dedicated to the assessment of health burden evidence of VPIs in European adults.

Presentations and discussion sessions were organised, based on the following pre-defined meeting objectives:

• To provide an overview of currently available vaccines for VPIs in the adult population (≥ 18 years of age)
• To discuss the methodology and challenges in assessing the health burden of adult VPIs
• To evaluate the health burden evidence of selected VPIs to provide a convincing case for strengthening adult vaccination in Europe
• To understand how health burden estimates of adult VPIs shape national vaccination policies and practices and inform public health priorities

This meeting report presents the opportunities and challenges that were identified. Several European initiatives promote health burden of disease (BoD)-harmonised methodologies and/or capacity building collaborations that can be further built upon. Although VPI health burden data are available and are key components in the evidence-informed decision-making processes behind immunisation strategies, data gaps remain, particularly for certain diseases and at-risk populations.