[Pneumococcal vaccination in France among adults]

Pneumococcal vaccination has for long be controversial but has today a proven efficacy and efficiency in preventing pneumococcal pneumonia, especially their most serious expressions leading to hospitalisation or death. France has an exceptional situation, as it is one of the developed country with the lowest rate of vaccination. This is the result of restrictive, maladjusted and discrepant recommendations of different commissions and committees. The gap is even more glaring with the flue vaccination program which has nearly the same medical indications. France was the first country in the world to set up a flue vaccination program for the elderly and some chronic conditions, and this program is an obvious success. For the twentieth anniversary of this program, his author propose to extend it to pneumococcal vaccination for a better prevention of what is the first cause of death from infectious disease in France with 6000 to 13000 deaths per year.