Vaccine vs pneumococcal disease now in the market

A vaccine used to prevent invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) among infants has recently been introduced in the market.

Wyeth has come up with the 7-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in an effort to help protect infants below two years old from contracting the disease.

Pediatric infectious disease specialist Nancy Bermal of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine said that IPD is most common among infants in the world today, killing at least a million children a year.

Bermal said that IPD is caused by the bacteria called streptococcus pneumoniae, also known as pneumococcal bacteria, the leading cause of death among infants and children worldwide. Children at risk with the disease are those below two years old.

A study conducted among young children by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in the late 1990s showed that 35 percent of those who fell prey to the bacteria died from the disease.

The bacteria had been the leading cause of pediatric bacterial pneumonia and meningitis as well as acute bacterial otitis media. It is transmitted when one inhales the respiratory droplets from an infected person. It can also be released through coughing, sneezing and talking.

Bermal said there are three forms of IPD among infants and children: pneumonia, septicimia and meningitis. She said that the possible effects of some forms of IPD are deafness, mental retardation, paralysis and death.

To prevent the child from contracting the disease, Bermal said the best thing to do is vaccination.

Bermal explained that there are two types of IPD vaccines available in the market today but the most effective is Wyeth's 7-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine.

The other is the 23-Valent Polysaccharide Vaccine, which is less effective compared to the one manufactured by Wyeth. Those allowed to use the 23-Valent Vaccine are children above two years old.

Bermal said recent studies have demonstrated that the overall incidence of invasive disease caused by penicillin-resistant streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria substantially declined since the vaccine's introduction.

The 7-Valent Pneumococcal Vaccine remains the only vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help prevent invasive pneumococcal disease among infants. - Jasmin R. Uy