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May 12, 2003

 

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

 

“Appropriateness of a Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in Brazil: Potential Impact of Age and Clinical Diagnosis, With Emphasis on Meningitis”

 Journal of Infectious Diseases (www.journals.uchicago.edu/JID/home.html) (04/15/03) Vol. 187, No. 8, P. 1206; Brandileone, Maria-Cristina C.; Sgambatti de Andrade, Ana-Lucia S.; Di Fabio, José-Luis

 

Over a period of 20 years, scientists collected information about pneumococcal serotype distribution in the entire country of Brazil, information that has subsequently been analyzed by age group and clinical diagnosis by researchers, with a view toward providing information that could lead to vaccine use. Pneumococcal serotypes 1 and 5 were the most common serotypes among all age groups, though their prevalence was more common as patients aged. Serotype 14 was seen in children, while serotypes 3 and 4 were observed primarily in adults. The findings suggest that the seven-valent conjugate vaccine would reduce the incidence of severe pneumococcal disease by 58.2 percent in children aged five years and younger, while the nine-valent conjugate vaccine would drop the pneumococcal disease rate by 73 percent in that group. The seven-valent vaccine would be most useful in children between the ages of seven months and two years for pneumonia, while for meningitis the best age would be between seven months and five years. The results indicate that the incidence of sequelae and mortality from pneumococcal infection would probably be reduced in children in Brazil with the introduction of conjugate vaccine.

 

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