Immunization Focus is issued quarterly on the GAVI website. It is intended to provide updates and topical debate about key immunization issues at national and international level. It can also be sent to you by email. The views expressed in Immunization Focus are not necessarily the views of the GAVI Board. For those who survive it, many are left with permanent neurological deficits including deafness, impaired vision, seizures or mental retardation.
Young children are the most susceptible to all forms of pneumococcal disease.
Traditionally antibiotics have been used to treat pneumococcal infections, but many strains of pneumococcal bacteria are rapidly growing resistant to antibiotics, rendering the drugs increasingly ineffective. Resistance to penicillin and other antibiotics is a worldwide problem. This study suggests that, with this vaccine, it is possible. The study involved 264 children, age 12 to 35 months, from eight daycare centers in Israel. Half were given the trial vaccine and half were given the control vaccine.