Vaccine Cuts U.S. Child Pneumonia Hospitalizations

A new vaccine has slashed pneumonia hospital admissions for U.S. babies and toddlers, according to a study published on Thursday.

Hospital admission rates for children under age 2 fell 39 percent by the end of 2004 compared to rates in the years just before the 2000 debut of the Wyeth pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, according to the study in the Lancet medical journal.

That decline translates to an estimated 41,000 pneumonia hospitalizations prevented for children under age 2 in 2004, the last year of the study, said Dr. Carlos Grijalva of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, who led the research.

The vaccine prevents infection caused by pneumococcal bacteria, which can trigger illnesses including pneumonia, ear infections and meningitis.

The researchers also detected a ripple effect of good health, with pneumonia hospitalization rates for adults ages 18 to 39 falling by 26 percent by the end of the study. That translates to an estimated 25,000 such hospitalizations prevented in 2004.

They said this decline might be because parents of vaccinated children also escaped infection.

The study is the latest to show that the benefits of the vaccine are exceeding expectations. The vaccine, also called PCV7, is marketed under the brand name Prevnar in the United States and Canada and as Prevenar elsewhere in the world.

Other researchers reported on Monday that the vaccine has reduced repeat ear infections and the need for inserted ear tubes in children.

BENEFITS FOR DEVELOPING WORLD

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which funded the new study, recommends the vaccine be administered to every U.S. infant and young child. Grijalva said about 80 percent of these children are getting it.

The researchers said the vaccine could provide great health benefits in developing countries, where pneumococcal diseases are a leading cause of childhood deaths.

"This is very important information for countries that are interested in implementing similar (vaccination) programs," Grijalva said.

The researchers based their findings on information from a large U.S. government database tracking hospital admissions.

They examined hospital admissions for pneumonia triggered by any cause between 1997 and 1999, immediately before the vaccine's introduction, and between 2001 and 2004, immediately after.

Pneumococcal infections can be difficult to treat because the bacteria have become resistant to some of the drugs used for treatment, making prevention even more important, the CDC said.