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Updated: Jan 27, 2026
Experimental Human Pneumococcal Carriage
Published on: February 15, 2013
Pneumococcal vaccines
Anand Manoharan1, Ranjith Jayaraman2
1The CHILDS Trust Medical Research Foundation, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Insights
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) significantly reduce childhood invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPDs) and deaths globally. Continued surveillance of antibiotic resistance in non-vaccine serotypes is crucial for long-term prevention.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Infectious Diseases
- Vaccinology
Background:
- Streptococcus pneumoniae causes millions of invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPDs) and nearly a million deaths in children under five annually, particularly in developing nations.
- Childhood immunocompromising illnesses like HIV increase IPD risk, while rising antibiotic resistance to common treatments complicates management.
- The majority of IPDs are caused by a limited number of serotypes, making vaccines a viable prevention strategy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the global burden of IPDs and the impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) in reducing childhood mortality and morbidity.
- To address the growing concern of antibiotic resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae strains and its implications for treatment.
- To emphasize the role of PCVs, particularly PCV-13, in national immunization programs (NIPs) for developing countries.
Main Methods:
- Review of global incidence data for invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPDs) and associated mortality in children under five.
- Analysis of the impact of existing and recommended pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) on disease reduction in developed and developing countries.
- Examination of trends in antibiotic resistance among invasive pneumococcal strains and the implications for vaccine efficacy and treatment.
Main Results:
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) have substantially decreased IPD incidence in developed countries.
- PCV-10 and PCV-13 are recommended by WHO for NIPs in developing countries, with PCV-13 showing promise in reducing morbidity, mortality, and antibiotic-resistant strains.
- The introduction of PCV-13 in five Indian states aims to further combat high rates of pneumococcal disease.
Conclusions:
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are critical tools for reducing childhood mortality and morbidity from invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPDs).
- Ongoing surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in non-vaccine serotypes is essential to prevent resistance resurgence.
- Further research into non-serotype-specific virulence factors is needed to enhance vaccine strategies against Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Abstract:
Streptococcus pneumoniae continues to take a heavy toll on childhood mortality and morbidity across the developing world. An estimated 10.6 million invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPDs) occur every year, with nearly 1 million deaths in children under 5 years of age. Introduction of vaccines in the childhood immunisation programme in developed world has brought down the incidence of the disease considerably. However, childhood immunocompromising illnesses including HIV have increased the risk of IPD several folds. There is also a growing concern on the increasing antibiotic resistance among these invasive strains to penicillin, other beta-lactams and macrolides, making treatment difficult and expensive. It is estimated that about 62% of IPD worldwide is caused by the 10 most common serotypes. Although the ranking of individual pneumococcal serotypes causing serious disease varies among nations, the 7-13 serotypes included in pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) may prevent 50%-80% of all paediatric pneumococcal diseases globally. The World Health Organization has recommended the use of PCV-10/13 in the national immunisation programmes (NIPs) of developing countries. Four doses of PCV-13 have been recommended by the US Association of Pediatrics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at intervals of each 2 months for the first 6 months and by the 12th to 15th months after birth. This is expected to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with IPD and simultaneously decrease colonisation with circulating antibiotic-resistant strains in immunized communities. Nevertheless, continued surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in non-vaccine serotypes is necessary to prevent the resurgence of resistance. Other virulence factors which are not serotype specific also need to be studied to overcome the drawbacks of serotype-specific pneumococcal vaccines. PCV-13 was launched during May 2017 under the NIP of five Indian states with the highest pneumococcal diseases in the country and is expected to be rolled out in the other parts of the country in the coming days.
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