Epidemiology of invasive and other pneumococcal disease in children in England and Wales 1996-1998

The results of enhanced national surveillance of pneumococcal disease in ch ildren < 15 y of age in England and Wales are reported for the period 1996- 1998. Of the 1985 cases of laboratory confirmed invasive disease (annual in cidence 6.6 per 100000 overall and 39.7 per 100000 in infants <1 y of age), 485 (24%) were meningitis (annual incidence of 1.6 per 100000 overall and 15.7 per 100000 in infants <1 y of age). Fifty-nine deaths in children with invasive disease were identified-3% of the total reports. Thirty-one diffe rent serogroups/types were identified, with organisms in the 7-valent conju gate Vaccine responsible for 69% of the infections in children <5 y of age; this rose to 77% and 82%, respectively, for the 9-and Ii-valent vaccines. Resistance to penicillin varied from 2.3% to 6.2% in different years, but e rythromycin resistance remained constant at 17%. The vast majority of resis tant isolates were in Vaccine serotype/groups. Computerized hospital admiss ion records for all children <15 y of age with a discharge diagnosis code i ndicating probable pneumococcal disease were also analysed for 1997. The an nual incidence for cases with a code specifically mentioning S. pneumoniae was 9.9 per 100000 compared with 71.2 per 100000 for lobar pneumonia; the m ean duration of stay for both was <1 wk. The incidence of admission for pne umococcal meningitis (1.9 overall and 19.6 for infants <1y of age) was simi lar to that derived from laboratory reports and resulted in an average dura tion of stay of 2 wk. Conclusion: This surveillance has confirmed the substantial burden of morbi dity attributable to pneumococcal disease in British children and the poten tial public health benefits that could be achieved by the use of pneumococc al conjugate vaccines.