FDA approves new pneumonia vaccine with wider reach

[HuckleB]

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/25/science/la-sci-vaccine25-2010feb25

"The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a new pneumococcal vaccine that protects against more strains of bacteria than the existing one and is expected to produce a sharp reduction in the number of cases of bacterial pneumonia and ear infections in children and adolescents.

The existing vaccine, called Prevnar, protects against the seven main strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae, which not only produce pneumonia but also can invade the blood, middle ear and the covering of the brain and spinal cord.

When Prevnar was first marketed in 2000, those seven strains accounted for about 80% of all pneumococcal disease. By 2007, the overall incidence of disease caused by the seven strains in children younger than 5 had been reduced by 99%.

As the prevalence of the original seven strains of S. pneumoniae was reduced, however, other strains began moving into their niche. Researchers now think that as many as three-quarters of new cases of pneumonia and other streptococcal infections are caused by the six additional strains of bacteria included in the new vaccine, Prevnar 13, along with the original seven.

..."


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This is actually a better explanation of the history of this vaccine:

A Welcome Upgrade to a Childhood Vaccine – PCV 13
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=4085


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I think this is a positive step forward...

:hi:

[xchrom]

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