We conducted surveillance on invasive pneumococci isolated from adults in the Czech Republic during 1996-2003. The 7 most prevalent serotypes were characterized. Coverage with the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine was low. Our observations confirm that detection methods may have modified the expected effect of this vaccine.

Current guidelines recommend a combined schedule of a 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) and PPSV23 (23-valent polysaccharide vaccine) for asplenic individuals. We show that PCV13 induces a T-dependent immune response in asplenic individuals with β-thalassemia, but previous PPSV23s affect the memory B-cell response in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Clinical Trials Registration...

In a post hoc analysis of the Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) immunization Trial in Adults the model-predicted 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine efficacy for preventing vaccine-type specific CAP and Invasive Pneumococcal Disease declined from 65% to 40% for subjects being 65 and 75 year olds at the time of vaccination, respectively.

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and on dialysis are at increased risk of pneumococcal disease. We evaluated the immunogenicity of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in this population. Eligible patients with ESRD and on dialysis were given a single dose of PCV13. The concentrations of serum antibodies against 13 pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides were measured ...

OBJECTIVE The goal was to explore the association of being underinsured and receiving doses at a health department clinic (HDC) with not receiving all recommended adolescent vaccine doses. METHODS A total of 5657 adolescents, 13 to 17 years of age, were sampled in the National Immunization Survey-Teen in 2006-2007. RESULTS A total of 63.9% of all adolescents were covered by private health i...

OBJECTIVE This study aims to evaluate the costs and outcomes of offering the 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV10) and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in Thailand compared to the current situation of no PCV vaccination. METHODS Two vaccination schedules were considered: two-dose primary series plus a booster dose (2+1) and three-dose primary series plus a booster d...

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of the Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib) conjugate vaccine in reducing the incidence of meningitis among children under five years old. METHODS A 'before-after' design was used to compare Hib meningitis incidence rates in the pre-vaccine (July 1995 - June 1999) and post-vaccine (July 1999 - June 2001) periods in the state of Goias, central Brazil. Bacterial meningi...

Enclosed for your consideration for publication in BMC Pediatrics is the original manuscript, “An open-label randomized clinical trial in children of prophylactic paracetamol co-administered with 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and hexavalent diphtheria toxoid, tetanus toxoid, 3-component acellular pertussis, hepatitis B, inactivated polio virus, and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine.”

Pneumococcal meningitis is still today a life threatening disease among children under-5 worldwide. Although the heptavalent vaccine has demonstrated its ability to reduce the incidence of pneumococcal disease its efficacy is limited due to the restricted number of serotypes included. We report a case of a child with a Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis despite the use of heptavalent conjugate...

OBJECTIVE The licensure and use of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that is immunogenic in children who are younger than 2 years may affect the epidemiology of occult bacteremia. This study was conducted to determine the serotype prevalence of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from children with occult bacteremia and to document the proportion that would be covered by the recently licensed hept...