Prevention of pneumococcal disease in children. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines: their use globally could have a major impact on public health

Pneumococcal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in infants and young children worldwide. New pneumococcal conjugate vaccines include 7 to 11 serotypes, which are the most common cause of paediatric disease in most parts of the world. The efficacy of a 7-valent conjugate vaccine was 97.4% (95% CI, 82.7-99.9) against invasive pneumococcal disease, and 57% (9 5% CI, 44-67) against otitis media, caused by vaccine serotypes. Evidence s hows that the vaccine has the potential to prevent pneumonia. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccination has also been shown to reduce nasopharyngeal carriage of vaccine serotypes (particularly serotypes associated with antibiotic re sistance). Thus widespread use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine could subs tantially reduce the burden of invasive disease and would have the potentia l to control the global spread of antibiotic resistance in pneumococci. Conclusion: It is important that these highly effective vaccines should be made available to children in the developing countries.