Vaccines and Preventable Diseases:
Global Pneumococcal Disease and Vaccine
On this page:
Global disease
- Burden of pneumococcal disease globally (exit)
Based on available data, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that Streptococcus pneumoniae kills close to one million children under five years of age worldwide every year and most of these are in developing countries.
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WHO is in the process of estimating the number of cases and deaths due to pneumococcal disease globally, regionally and nationally for every country in the world. The link will be posted here when data becomes available.
Pneumococcal Vaccines in Developing Countries
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PCV-7 recommendations for developing countries
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The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) that advises WHO on vaccines has recently published recommendations for the introduction of PCV-7 to developing countries and recommends that high mortality countries are prioritized. Currently pneumococcal vaccine is not in the routinely immunizations program in any developing country. - WHO position paper concerning the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in young children (exit)
Advance market commitment (exit)
A U.S. $1.5-billion pilot program is expected to save 5.4 million lives, protecting children from pneumonia, meningitis by speeding up the development and availability of new vaccines including pneumococcal vaccine.-
Resources for vaccine support (exit)
The GAVI Alliance is a partnership that combines public and private sector resources to bring the benefits of immunization to children in greatest need. They have recently committed funding for pneumococcal vaccines. - PneumoADIP (exit)
Works to improve child survival and health by accelerating the evaluation of, and access to, new lifesaving pneumococcal vaccines for the world's children through partnerships with countries, donors, academia, international organizations and industry.
Literature
- Levine OS, O'Brien KL, Knoll M, et al. Pneumococcal vaccination in developing countries 2006 Lancet 367:1880-82
- Sinha A, Levine O, Knoll MD, MuhibF, Lieu TA. Cost-effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination in the prevention of child mortality: an international economic analysis. 2007, Lancet; 369: 389–96
Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Use in Industrialized Countries
Use of PCV is expanding in industrialized countries.
- PCV in the Americas
PCV is in the routine immunization schedule in the U.S. and Canada where it has been shown to be highly effective. In many other countries (exit) in the region countries PCV is available in the private sector or for high risk groups through the public sector. However, many countries (exit) are interested in introducing the vaccine into their national immunization schedules.
Garcia S, Levine OS, Cherian T, Gabastou JM, Andrus J, and the Working Group Members. Pneumococcal disease and vaccination in the Americas: an agenda for accelerated vaccine introduction. 2006 Pan Am J Public Health 19(5):340-48.
- PCV in Europe
Efforts are underway to build and strengthen European surveillance systems to allow countries to make informed decisions regarding the introduction of new pneumococcal vaccines and also to monitor and compare the impact and effectiveness of new programs. PCV vaccines are used widely in high risk groups but many countries (exit) are beginning to introduce PCV into their routine immunization schedules.
Peabody R. G. et al. Pneumococcal Vaccination Policy in Europe. Euro Surveill. 2005;10(9): 174-8
Peabody R. G. et al. Pneumococcal Disease Surveillance in Europe RG Pebody1, Euro Surveill. 2006;11(9): 171-8
Return to main Pneumococcal Vaccination page
Content last reviewed on September 5, 2007
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases