title: ["Herd immunity" after administration of Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and its impact on vaccination campaigns].
abstract: Parallel to the diffusion of conjugated pneumococcal vaccine in children, several studies have shown a reduction of the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease both in the vaccinated and in the unvaccinated. Such an observation is not a surprise if one considers that a similar phenomenon has taken place also after the mass introduction of Hib vaccine, at its turn a conjugated polysaccharide vaccine. Another observation is that also the carriage of vaccinal pneumococci was reduced in both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, while in some cases the carriage of non-vaccinal serotypes, definitely less pathogenic, could be increased.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Prevenzione, ASL Catania.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ciriminna
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cuccia
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D000069443:Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine; D006801:Humans; D032541:Mass Vaccination / Q000379:methods*; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000069443:Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines