Up to one in ten adults and three in ten children are infected with influenza each year. The vaccine we have used for decades, the trivalent vaccine (TIV), protects against three strains of flu. But in 2016, for the first time, the publicly funded vaccine program will offer the quadrivalent flu vaccine (QIV), which protects against four instead of three strains of flu. Here's what you need to know.

Needles are no fun, especially for kids. While we've mentioned before that cartoons and video games can distract both kids and adults from the pain of a shot, there are actually a ton of other techniques that can help -- including applying a numbing cream.

There's more than one reason to skip vaccinations, and not all of them fit into our stereotypes of how anti-vaxxers think. A new analysis identifies four reasons people skip the shots, and how best to convince each to reconsider.

You might be missing out on some immune-system superpowers that are yours for the asking at your local GP. Besides protecting yourself -- who wants chicken pox and tetanus? -- staying up-to-date on shots helps to keep dangerous germs out of circulation and away from others.

New Australian research has discovered that the most effective way to protect infants against influenza is to ensure the rest of the household have received their yearly flu shot. Giving up smoking and limiting the number of people inside the house can also significantly reduce a baby's risk of infection.

Diarrhoeal mortality is decreasing by about 4 per cent per year, although the disease remains unacceptably rife, resulting in about 800,000 child fatalities worldwide annually. New research has found that the majority of cases are caused by just four pathogen types -- Rotavirus, Cryptosporidium, ETEC and Shigella.

2013 is shaping up to be another bumper year for colds, flus and noroviruses with medical officials predicting a similar or greater outbreak level to 2012. Here's what you need to know about the impending sniffle season.

Australian public health experts have hit out at the way influenza vaccines for children are evaluated and licensed. According to the authors, new immunisation drugs are not tested with enough diligence.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is taking a homeopathy website to court for claiming that the whooping cough vaccine is dangerous and ineffective. The consumer watchdog accuses Homeopathy Plus! of making misleading and deceptive statements that could lead to serious health risks for consumers.