Direct effects of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines among children in Latin America and the Caribbean

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Cynthia Whitney, Emory University; Cristiana M. Toscano, Federal University of Goiás
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-02-24
• Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30511-9
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: LANCET INFECTIOUS DISEASES
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 3
• Start Page: 306
• End Page: 308
• Keywords: VACCINATION; Infectious Diseases; Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; DISEASE
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Immunology

Abstract

In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 70% of the 52 countries and territories have introduced pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) into their national immunisation programmes for infants. More than 73 million children live in the region, and, as of 2018, about 82% had received at least three doses of PCV.1 Many reports have described the benefits of PCVs in North America,2, 3 with recent evidence showing these findings in the Latin American and Caribbean countries.4, 5 In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Clara Inés Agudelo and colleagues' observational study6 reports data from the Sistema Regional de Vacunas (SIREVA) network. The study is substantial in size (>12 000 isolates), territory (ten countries, eight of which had been using a PCV), and time covered (about 12 years). This observational study provides evidence for the benefits of PCV programmes on reducing the burden of invasive pneumococcal diseases due to Streptococcus pneumoniae among children younger than 5 years in this region.