Health & body · 2000
How closely did new pneumococcal vaccines match the bacteria causing in Canadian children?
in the 7-valent matched 85.8% of tested isolates from children aged 6 months to 5 years, with significantly lower matching in younger and older children. Matching also varied by health status, penicillin resistance, year and pediatric center; the study assessed serotype matching, not vaccine effectiveness.
Details
Researchers reviewed 2040 consecutive cases of invasive pneumococcal infection seen at 11 pediatric centers across Canada during 1991–1998 to determine whether new conjugate vaccines could prevent such infections. They serotyped bacterial isolates from 1528 cases.
Most cases (61.5%) occurred in patients older than 2 years. Underlying medical conditions were present in 23.2% of case patients.
Serotypes included in the 7-valent conjugate vaccine matched 85.8% of tested isolates from children aged 6 months to 5 years, but matched significantly fewer isolates from younger and older children. Matching was 72.9% for isolates from children who were not healthy, compared with 83.9% for isolates from previously healthy children. It was 95.4% for isolates with high-level penicillin resistance, compared with only 72.7% for those with intermediate-level resistance.
The proportion of isolates matching the 7-valent vaccines showed significant natural variation from year to year and among centers.
The researchers concluded that new conjugate vaccines have great potential, but their effectiveness and limitations require ongoing study.
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