Participants in medical research are the most valuable resource within health research, and their wellbeing must be regarded as paramount. Australia’s national statement on ethical conduct in human research1 establishes that the burden is on researchers to safeguard the health, wellbeing and autonomy of their research participants. We argue that additional guidance is required in an area that has not been widely considered in the ethical research literature and policy: immunisation coverage of the research team.
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- 1. National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council, Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee. National statement on ethical conduct in human research (2007) (Updated March 2014). Canberra: NHMRC.
- 2. Calderon M, Feja KN, Ford P, et al. Implementation of a pertussis immunization program in a teaching hospital: An argument for federally mandated pertussis vaccination of health care workers. Am J Infect Control. 2008; 36: 392-398.
- 3. Greer AL, Fisman DN. Keeping vulnerable children safe from pertussis: preventing nosocomial pertussis transmission in the neonatal intensive care unit. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2009; 30: 1084-1089.
- 4. Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI). The Australian immunisation handbook 10th ed (2015 update). Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health, 2015.
- 5. NSW Health. Occupational assessment, screening and vaccination against specified infectious diseases. Ministry of Health; 2011.
No relevant disclosures.