Kids’ pneumonia jabs cut infant disease too

Since the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine in 2000 and its recommendation for all children 2 to 23 months old, rates of pneumonia among young infants have declined, new research suggests.

Previous reports have linked use of the vaccine with a drop in pneumococcal disease among children younger than 2 years of age. However, it was unclear if childhood immunization reduced disease rates among infants who were too young to receive the vaccine themselves—namely, those who were just a few months old.

In the present study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Katherine A. Poehling, from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, and colleagues assessed pneumonia rates among infants, 0 to 90 days of age, before and after the introduction of the pneumonia vaccine.

In the eight states studied, 89 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease occurred before introduction and 57 occurred after introduction of the vaccine.

With the introduction of the vaccine, the average rate of pneumococcal disease among young infants fell 40 percent. The reduction was most pronounced for black infants. By contrast, the decline seen among white infants was not statistically significant.

These data, the authors conclude, provide further evidence that the pneumonia vaccine has resulted in herd immunity because neonates and young infants have had a significant decrease in pneumococcal disease rates, although they are too young to receive a full series of the vaccine.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, April 12, 2006.

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