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July 13, 2001

“New Pneumococcal Vaccine Effective Against Nasopharyngeal Carriage” Infectious Diseases in Children (www.idinchildren.com) (06/01)

Vol. 14, No. 6, P. 18; Kronemeyer, Bob

A study led by Dr. Katherine L. O’Brien, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, found that PCV7 (Prevnar) is directly protective against nasopharyngeal carriage of vaccine-type Streptococcus pneumoniae.  Presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, O’Brien’s study focused on a high-risk population that initially included 577 Navajo and Apache infants between the ages of seven months and 12 months.  According to the researcher, “Navajo and Apache Indian children are 5 times more likely to have serious pneumococcal infections compared to other children in the United States.”  For the study, the children were given three doses of PCV7 or the control vaccine at regular intervals along with nasopharyngeal swab tests.  O’Brien found that 23.7 percent of the children vaccinated with PCV7 were likely to carry a vaccine-type strain, compared to 35.5 percent of the other children.  O’Brien also noted that “the children immunized with Prevnar were more likely to carry an non-vaccine-type strain.” Although the significance of the findings is unclear, O’Brien surmised that while the goal of Prevnar is to reduce the risk of invasive and non-invasive diseases, the mechanism by which the vaccine works is also related to how it affects the nasopharynx.

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