Children's Pneumonia Vaccine Helps Prevent Disease in Adults

Rates of serious illness dropped by almost one-third, study finds

TUESDAY, Oct. 25, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- Giving pneumococcal vaccine to young children can also help reduce rates of serious pneumococcal infections -- including pneumonia -- in older adults.

Since the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-7) for babies and toddlers in 2000, the rate of invasive pneumococcal disease in adults over age 50 decreased by 28 percent, according to a study in the Oct. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"The use of this new vaccine in children resulted in a significant decline in serious disease in older adults," said study author Catherine Lexau, an epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Health, in St. Paul.

The new vaccine provides protection against seven types of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. These bacteria are also commonly known as pneumococcus. Pneumococcal infections can cause pneumonia, meningitis, blood infections and ear infections, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Pneumococcal bacteria are estimated to cause 40,000 deaths each year, according to the NIAID.

Children under 2, adults over 65 and those with compromised immune systems are most susceptible to these infections. A vaccine that covers 23 types of pneumococcal bacteria is available for adults, and is recommended for people over 65, those with weakened immune systems, and anyone with a chronic medical condition, such as heart failure and diabetes, according to the NIAID.

To measure whether the introduction of the children's vaccine had an effect on overall disease rates, Lexau and fellow researchers from eight sites across the United States tracked rates of pneumococcal disease in people over 50 from 1998 through 2003. The researchers included several years prior to the introduction of the vaccine to assess its true effect on the incidence of disease.

The eight areas were San Francisco County; the state of Connecticut; Atlanta; Baltimore; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Rochester, N.Y.; Portland, Ore.; and Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tenn. The total population studied was more than 18 million people with nearly 5 million over age 50.

The overall incidence of serious pneumococcal infections dropped 28 percent between 1998 and 2003 for adults over 50, the researchers found. When the team looked just at the seven strains of pneumococcus included in the vaccine, the results were even more dramatic. The rate of serious infection in older adults dropped by 55 percent during the study period.

The researchers also looked at rates of disease for the other 16 strains contained in the adult form of the vaccine, and found these rates didn't change. For strains not included in either type of vaccine, rates of infection actually increased slightly.

Lexau said death rates declined during the study period by nearly 20 percent.

Dr. Graham Krasan, an assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases in the department of pediatrics at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., said the study's results were "exciting."

"Unfortunately children, since they have a higher colonization rate of streptococcus pneumoniae, are a very efficient vector for spreading the organism," said Krasan. "So, it's encouraging that there were declines in the serotypes associated with PCV-7."

Besides getting the pneumococcal vaccine, Lexau said another important step in preventing serious infections, such as pneumonia, is to get a flu shot every year if you're at high-risk.

Krasan added that "judicious hand-washing" and alcohol-based sanitizing gels can also help reduce the incidence of infection.

More information

To learn more about the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, read this information from the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
www.healthday.com