Europe Slow to Offer Pneumococcal Vaccine

Scientists in Paris say some European nations have been slow to add the infant pneumococcal vaccine to its national programs despite good results elsewhere.

Several European nations still only vaccinate selected at-risk groups against invasive pneumococcal diseases, or IPD, despite growing evidence that universal vaccination of infants and young children reduces their risk and also provides added indirect herd protection for other unvaccinated members of the community, said the French study’s lead author, Dr. Mark Fletcher.

Children in high risk groups include those with underlying medical conditions, such as sickle cell disease, HIV or diabetes.

Fletcher, director of international scientific and clinical affairs at Wyeth Vaccine Research in Paris, said Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Portugal and Sweden do not offer universal national or regional IPD immunizations, while Austria and France provide the most comprehensive guidelines for vaccinating at-risk groups.

Restricting pneumococcal immunization to children who have a serious health problem that could make them more susceptible means only a small percentage of the overall cases of childhood IPD may be prevented, said Fletcher.

The study appears in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.