Pneumococcal vaccine extremely effective for high risk Native American communities

A study conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health concluded that the new conjugated pneumococcal vaccine, which is sold under the brand name Prevnar, effectively protects Native American children from seven types of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. Pneumococcal infections can cause a number of serious illnesses including deadly bacterial meningitis.

The study is the first to examine the vaccine�s effectiveness in a high-risk community. The findings from the study were presented on April 29, 2001 at the Pediatric Academic Societies Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

�Navajo and Apache Indian children are five times more likely to have serious pneumococcal infections compared to other children in the United States. Some vaccines do not work as well among Native American people, but our studies indicate that this new pneumococcal vaccine is extremely effective and should help prevent infections,� says Katherine O�Brien, M.D., who is lead author of both studies and a research professor with the Center for American Indian Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

For the study, researchers selected more than 8,000 infants and toddlers living in 38 Navajo and White Mountain Apache Indian communities between 1997 and 1999. All of the children were between six weeks and two years of age. Each of the 38 communities was randomly assigned to receive either the pneumococcal vaccine or a control vaccine.

�We found that the vaccine was nearly 83 percent effective at preventing serious pneumococcal infections among infants who received at least one dose of the vaccine prior to seven months of age. The vaccine was 86 percent efficacious among all infants who received at least one dose of the vaccine prior to two years of age. These results may also be good news for other groups who are also at increased risk for pneumococcal disease, such as children in daycare and African-American children,� explains Dr. O�Brien. Dr. O�Brien will present the findings of a second pneumococcal vaccine study on May 1, during the Pediatric Academic Societies Conference. The second study examines the vaccine�s ability to prevent vaccinated children from becoming carriers of the selected pneumococcal types.

L. Moulton, R. Reid, G. Kumar, J. Oski, L. Brown, R. Weatherholtz, M. Santosham, J. Hackell, R. Kohberger, I. Chang, and G. Siber contributed to the work of the study.