NEW VACCINE

By:  Joe M. Lee, M.D.

The FDA has approved a new vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcus disease in infants and young children. We have had a vaccine for adults for some time, but this vaccine has not been effective in preventing disease in infants. This comes at a time when invasive pneumococcus disease is increasing at an alarming rate, and our standard antibiotics are not working as well for this particular infection. The pneumococcus bacteria, or Strep pneumonia, has become quite resistant to our usual antibiotics, often requiring IV or injectable antibiotics to treat even an ear infection. The pneumococcus is responsible for approximately 40% of all ear infections, so this vaccine will not totally prevent this common childhood illness. But if a child is vaccinated, treating the ear infection will be much easier and quicker and will not require multiple visits to clear a single infection.

Even more importantly, this vaccine will virtually eliminate bacteremia, an infection of the bloodstream caused by this germ, and meningitis, and infection of the central nervous system, that is often fatal and frequently causes severe side effects. Every year, there are 16,000 cases of pneumococcus bacteremia and 1,400 children with pneumococcus meningitis in the United States. In the past 18 months, there have been over 20 cases of meningitis caused by this germ treated at Kosair Childrens Hospital. We have treated two infants from Grayson County with pneumococcus meningitis in that same time period.

The vaccine has been shown to be nearly 100% effective in preventing the invasive disease.

The vaccine is given to infants at their 2, 4, and 6 months visits and a 4^th dose is given at 12 to 15 months. If the vaccine is started after one year, only 2 doses are required. Side effects are minimal, including a low grade fever, soreness at the injection site, and irritability. The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends that this vaccine be given to all infants. It is covered by most insurance policies. It will be covered by Medicaid and Passport, but has not received final approval at this time. This will mean that some infants will receive four vaccines at one visit, but more importantly, it will also mean that your infant will be protected from an extremely serious infection, and have fewer ear infections.