Vaccine could save 132 lives each year, study finds

Infant vaccinations: Up to 132 lives could be saved annually if the Government incorporated a vaccination against pneumococcal disease as part of the childhood immunisation programme, a new study has found.

Pneumococcal disease includes life-threatening infections such as meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia, with the very young and older people most at risk.

The study, published in the Irish Medical Journal, examined the incidence of pneumococcal meningitis; septicaemia and pneumonia in Ireland, based on data drawn up by the National Disease Surveillance Centre and the Hospital In-Patient Inquiry system.

Siobhan McCormack and Dr David McIntosh's study estimates that the routine vaccination of infants with the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevenar) as part of the childhood immunisation programme would help protect infants and young children and also assist in reducing serious pneumococcal disease in unvaccinated adults due to a "community protection" effect.

The study suggests the introduction of such an immunisation programme could prevent 132 deaths and 1,183 cases of serious pneumococcal disease annually in all age groups - this represented one life saved every three days and three cases of serious pneumococcal disease being prevented every day.

Pneumococcal disease is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae - of which there are around 90 different strains. However, only a few serotypes are responsible for serious disease and illnesses.

Many, including up to 60 per cent of children, carry pneumococcal bacteria in the back of their nose and throat, and pass them around by coughing and sneezing. Most of the time, this is harmless. However, in a susceptible person, the bacteria can cause a wide range of diseases - from sinusitis, middle ear and respiratory infections to life-threatening conditions such as meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia.

According to Prof Mary Cafferkey (director of the Meningococcal and Meningitis Reference Laboratory at Temple Street Hospital, Dublin), pneumococcal meningitis, although uncommon, is now the second most common type of bacterial meningitis diagnosed in this country. There were 25 notified cases in 2003, with 61 per cent of these occurring in the under-five age group.

"Pneumococcal meningitis is a particularly dangerous form of the disease. It is the most life-threatening form of meningitis, and survivors have a higher rate of after-effects - including deafness, speech and language problems, epilepsy and blindness - than with other forms of bacterial meningitis," she said.

The Immunisation Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, which already recommends the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for children under two, is now expected to look at the wider use of the vaccine - the authors of the study work for the pharmaceutical company, Wyeth, which manufactures the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Prevenar, the world's first and only licensed pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.