Pneumococcal vaccination of children.
Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most frequent cause of invasive bacterial infection in children younger than 2 years of age, reaching a peak incidence at 6 to 12 months of age. Pneumococci also cause many cases of pneumonia, sinusitis, and otitis media. Incidence rates of invasive infection in children with sickle cell disease, acquired or congenital splenectomy, or human immunodeficiency virus infection are 20- to 100-fold higher than are those of healthy children during the first 5 years of life. Other healthy children, such as those of American Indian, Native Alaskan, or African American descent, also have high rates of invasive infection, and those children enrolled in out-of-home care may have modestly increased risks. Pneumococcal polysaccharide polyvalent vaccines have been available for more than 2 decades but are limited in their usefulness for children because of their inability to induce protective antibody responses in children younger than 2 years of age and lack of immunologic memory. In contrast, pneumococcal protein conjugate vaccines induce presumptive protective responses in infants younger than 6 months, and immunologic memory further enhances responses after booster doses are given. Currently, a single heptavalent pneumococcal protein conjugate vaccine is licensed for use in the United States and is recommended for routine administration to all children, beginning at 2 months of age. It also is recommended for children between 24 and 59 months of age who are at high risk of acquiring invasive disease.
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque 87131, USA. goverturf@salud.unm.edu
Gary D
GD
Overturf
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000069443:Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007223:Infant; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000592:standards; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000592:standards; D012307:Risk Factors; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology*; D014481:United States; D014611:Vaccination / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods
D000069443:Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines