Earlier this week we posted a story about the European Medicines Agency recommending approval of a new pneumococcal vaccine. MRF Medical Information Officer Claire Knight explains the differences between the new and existing vaccine, and why this is an important step forward.
Pneumococcal meningitis is one of the commonest forms of bacterial meningitis in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The currently available pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar 7 was introduced into the childhood immunisation schedule in 2006 and has been very successful at preventing pneumococcal meningitis. The problem is that there are over 90 types of pneumococcal bacteria and designing a vaccine to protect against all these types is incredibly difficult. Prevenar 7, as its name suggests, protects against the 7 commonest types of pneumococcal bacteria.
However, types that are not covered by this vaccine have been increasing worldwide, both in countries that use the vaccine and those that don’t. This is why it is important to have new vaccines that cover more types of pneumococcal bacteria.
Ben Whymark’s story (from our Book of Experience) illustrates the need for wider ranging pneumococcal vaccines. Ben was vaccinated using the current vaccine, but in May 2008, at the age of 16 months, he was hit by the 7F strain, not covered by the current vaccine.
New vaccines undergo a strict trial process, and once convincing trial data is obtained the vaccine company can apply to the regulators for a license. The recommendation for approval of a new vaccine covering 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria is one more step towards providing even greater protection to children and preventing even more cases of what is a particularly devastating type of meningitis.
Posted in About meningitis & septicaemia by Claire Knight on 02 October 2009
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