Pneumococcal Disease News and Research

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Pneumococcal disease describes a group of illnesses caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae, also known as pneumococcus. This bacterial pathogen, which affects both children and adults, is a major cause of death and illness worldwide. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), pneumococcal disease is the number one vaccine-preventable cause of death in children younger than 5 years of age worldwide.

Sinovac submits clinical trial application for 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to China SFDA

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today it submitted the application to commence clinical trials for its 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) to China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) on March 3, 2011.

3 Mar 2011

Low vaccination rates across Australia

Vaccination rate figures show that older Australians are well protected against the flu but less so against pneumococcal disease and whooping cough. These figures were revealed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and they show three-quarters of Australians aged 65 years and older had a flu shot in 2009. Just over half (55 per cent) were also vaccinated against pneumococcal disease.

3 Mar 2011

Experimental vaccine appears to protect against pneumonia

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed an experimental vaccine that appears to protect against an increasingly common and particularly deadly form of pneumococcal pneumonia. Details of the new vaccine, which was tested in an animal model, are reported in a paper published today in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

22 Feb 2011

Researchers develop new pneumococcal vaccine through novel discovery approach

Pneumococcus accounts for as much as 11 percent of mortality in young children worldwide. While successful vaccines like Prevnar exist, they are expensive and only work against specific pneumococcal strains, with the risk of becoming less effective as new strains emerge.

17 Feb 2011

Pneumococcal vaccine officially rolled out in Kenya

"Kenya on Monday became the first African country to introduce a routine vaccine against pneumococcal disease, which claims the lives of more than half a million children under five each year," Deutsche Presse Agentur/The Hindu reports. The GAVI Alliance, which is supporting the vaccine's roll out, "is aiming to introduce the vaccine to 19 developing countries - including Nicaragua, Guyana, Yemen and Sierra Leone - within a year and hopes to reach more than 40 nations by 2015, depending on funding."

15 Feb 2011

Scientists use full genome sequencing to identify precise steps in molecular evolution of S. pneumoniae

Despite penicillin and the dozens of antibiotics that followed it, streptococcus bacteria have remained a major threat to health throughout the world. The reason: the superb evolutionary skills of this pathogen to rapidly alter its genetic makeup.

29 Jan 2011

Bill Gates, crown prince of Abu Dhabi announce $100m pledge for vaccines for Afghan, Pakistani children

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayanm, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, "pledged $100 million Wednesday to deliver vaccines to children in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Reuters reports.

28 Jan 2011

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grants $1.5million to Liverpool University for bacterial study

A University of Liverpool-led consortium has received $1.5million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study a bacterium that causes serious disease and epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa.

14 Jan 2011

Pfizer seeks FDA and EMA approval for expanded use of Prevnar 13 for pneumococcal disease

Pfizer Inc today announced that it has submitted supplemental applications to both the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to expand the use of Prevnar 13® (Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine [Diphtheria CRM197 Protein]) to adults 50 years of age and older for the prevention of pneumococcal disease caused by the 13 serotypes contained in the vaccine.

23 Dec 2010

GAVI Alliance launches pneumonia vaccine project in Nicaragua

"A new vaccine against the most deadly forms of pneumonia, one of the world's biggest killers of children, [was] launched in Nicaragua [on Sunday] as part of an effort to prevent 700,000 deaths in poorer countries by 2015," Reuters reports (Kelland, 12/10).

14 Dec 2010

Prevenar 13 launched in first childhood immunization program for PD in Nicaragua

Pfizer Inc. announced that Prevenar 13 (Pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine [13-valent, adsorbed]) was introduced into the first childhood immunization program for pneumococcal disease (PD) in the developing world under the auspices of the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) when Nicaragua launched its program today. The AMC is an innovative program which involves private-public partnerships to help make newer vaccines available on a sustainable, affordable and accelerated basis to the least developed countries.

13 Dec 2010

Financial Times contrasts 'bottom up' and 'top down' approaches to developing country drugs

The Financial Times contrasts the model of drug development for developing countries being used by non-profit groups like the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), which recently rolled out the MenAfriVac, to that of some pharmaceutical companies.

8 Dec 2010

Booster dose needed to protect preterm infants against invasive pneumococcal disease

A new study suggests that preterm infants may not be fully protected against invasitve pneumococcal disease under the current United Kingdom immunization schedule. The findings are reported in the November issue of the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology.

2 Dec 2010

Looking back and moving forward: 100 years of Pneumococcal vaccination

"Since the introduction of smallpox vaccination by Sir Edward Jenner in 1796, it took 184 years until the WHO could declare the world free of smallpox. How long will it take to eliminate pneumococcus from the world?"

25 Nov 2010

Pneumonia Report Card shows prevention, treatment tools not widely adopted in countries where disease kills most children

In advance of World Pneumonia Day, the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) on Thursday released a report card showing that pneumonia prevention and intervention targets are not being met in the 15 countries where three-quarters of deaths in children under age 5 from the disease occur each year, IRIN reports.

14 Nov 2010

Discovery on immune system paves way to new vaccine against pneumococcal disease

A new breakthrough in the fight against pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia has been announced today by scientists in Leicester and Dublin. The discovery will lead to a dramatic shift in our understanding of how the body's immune system responds to infection caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and pave the way for more effective vaccines.

12 Nov 2010

CDC issues new universal influenza vaccination recommendation for all Americans

With the influenza vaccine already available and more supply anticipated than ever before, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases convened ten of the country's leading medical and public health groups to call on all Americans to get vaccinated this season.

8 Oct 2010

U.N. Secretary-General urges funding for GAVI during replenishment meeting

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged more funding for the GAVI Alliance to help achieve its childhood vaccine targets and the related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), TopNews reports.

8 Oct 2010

Outbreak of whooping cough mirrors challenges in developing world, global health official says

The outbreak of whooping cough in Texas, California, and other states this year underscores the critical importance of widespread vaccination coverage, both locally as well as around the world, said a leading global health official attending conferences on world affairs and immunization in Fort Worth this week.

29 Sep 2010

Immunization is critical to reduce child deaths

Immunising children against preventable diseases is critical to achieving United Nations-led goals to reduce child deaths, global health and development chiefs said in New York today.

22 Sep 2010