Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.

———————————————————————

June 02, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“Shortages Do Not Appear to Have Impacted Effect of PCV7”

Infectious Diseases in Children (www.idinchildren.com) (05/03) Vol. 16, No. 5, P. 16; Bechtel, Bryan

When the heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine created by Wyeth was introduced in early 2000, it was hoped that a quick and successful launch of the vaccine, called Prevnar, would make a substantial impact on the rate of invasive pneumococcal disease given that the vaccine included the seven most common serotypes of invasive disease.  For 18 months, the vaccine's progress continued exactly according to plan, with more and more doctors administering the vaccine and no suggestion arising that secondary pneumococcal serotypes were becoming more prevalent to replace the seven prevented by Prevnar.  In August 2001, however, it was discovered that there were manufacturing problems with several lots of Prevnar, which immediately resulted in a shortage of the vaccine and scaling back of administration by pediatricians across the country.  Some children between the ages of two years and four years were receiving no doses of the vaccine, while some other children under the age of two years were receiving fewer doses than recommended, according to Elizabeth Zell, a statistician with the National Center for Infectious Diseases of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  With the reduction of doses, experts had assumed that invasive pneumococcal disease would make a comeback, but the CDC's Active Bacterial Core surveillance indicates that even during the period of shortage, in late 2001 and early 2002, the incidence of vaccine serotypes and vaccine-related serotypes continued to decline, dropping 78 percent from earlier levels.  Just as important, the agency found that the prevalence of disease caused by serotypes not associated with the vaccine had not risen--a factor that leads health experts to believe that the rate of invasive pneumococcal disease will continue to fall.