Doctors are being advised to give children a supplemental dose of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine as they come in to their offices. PCV13 is a vaccine that protects from pneumococcal disease, which is caused by the bacterium pneumococcus; it is a leading cause of potentially life-threatening illness in children and elderly individuals.

Pneumococcal disease can cause the most common type of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. Pneumonia is the biggest killing infectious disease in America, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

President-elect of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, David Kimberlin, M.D., said:

“The main cause of pneumonia in children and adults is pneumococcus, so there has been an emphasis on getting this vaccine to the recommended population.”

Last year in March, a CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that:

  • The 7-valent vaccine, PCV7 be replaced by the PCV13 one for all children
  • Anyone aged from 14 to 59 months who had been vaccinated with PCV7 should receive a PCV13 supplemental vaccine

A 2-year-old girl from California died in June this year from serotype 19A. She had been vaccinated with PCV7 but had not been given the supplemental PCV13 dose. PCV13 covers six additional types of pneumococcal disease, including serotype 19A. Had she had the supplemental dose of the new vaccine she would have been protected.

Kimberlin said:

“Serotype 19A is the most worrisome. It is the most prevalent of the new serotypes covered by PCV13 and it is more likely to have antibiotic resistance associated with it.

“The likelihood of pneumococcal deaths is tremendously lower when babies are vaccinated. And it is not just beneficial to the young, but also the older adults they come in contact with.

Children in the recommended age range for this supplemental PCV13 dose regularly see the doctor, so as parents bring them in, this is one of those good questions they can bring their pediatrician.

The vaccine can also lower the chances of flu complications – i.e. the risk of flu developing into pneumonia, Kimberlin added. Everybody in the USA over the age of 6 months should be vaccinated, the CDC has announced.

In a communiqué, the CDC wrote:

“Immunization programs and vaccination providers should encourage parents of all children aged 14 through 59 months who have received an age-appropriate PCV7 series to have their child receive a single supplemental dose of PCV13. Providers should take advantage of all office visits to vaccinate all eligible children with PCV13 to increase vaccination coverage.”

In this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), a CDC report, 37% of children aged 12 to 59 months who received the PCV7 vaccine series in March 2011 subsequently were given the supplemental PCV13 dose by June 30, 2011.

Written by Christian Nordqvist