Pneumococcal vaccination in children with acute lymphocytic leukemia

Sixty-three children with ALL in CCR and treated according to a standard therapy protocol were immunized with the 14-valent pneumococcal vaccine. Forty-six children were vaccinated 1, 3, or 6 months following initial induction remission; 15 were vaccinated 4-6 weeks following successful completion of 30 months of antileukemia therapy; and two were vaccinated at the time of diagnosis. Response to the vaccine was suboptimal and by the 6-month follow-up there were only two serotypes for which more than half the patients tested had greater than or equal to 300 ng antibodies N/ml.