title: Meeting the challenge: prevention of pneumococcal disease with conjugate vaccines.
abstract: Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the leading causes of both invasive and noninvasive diseases in the pediatric population and continues to represent a significant public health burden worldwide. The increasing incidence of antibioticresistant strains of the pathogen has complicated treatment and management of the various pneumococcal disease manifestations. Thus, the best management strategy may be the prevention of pneumococcal diseases through vaccination. Although several pneumococcal conjugate vaccines have been clinically studied in infants and children, only a 7-valent conjugate vaccine (PNCRM7; Prevnar/Prevenar) is currently approved for the prevention of invasive disease. Vaccination with PNCRM7 is safe and effective in infants and young children. Routine vaccination with the conjugate vaccine could improve outcomes by safeguarding against the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of S. pneumoniae, thus simplifying the management of pneumococcal disease. Additionally, the overall costs associated with the treatment of pneumococcal diseases could be substantially reduced, particularly in developing countries. The time has come for fully applying this new advancement against S. pneumoniae, to benefit the children of the world. The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Epidemiología Clínica, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Av. Universidad 655, Colonia Santa María Ahuacatitlán, 62508 Cuernavaca, Morelos, México. igechaniz@correo.insp.mx
authors.forename: I G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Echániz-Avilés
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Solórzano-Santos
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005544:Forecasting; D000069443:Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine; D006801:Humans; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000517:prevention & control; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines / Q000191:economics / Q000276:immunology; D012703:Serotyping; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate
chemical_list: D000069443:Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate