Vaccination against pneumococcal infection for children - reviews

If your child often suffers from respiratory infections, which are complicated by otitis, adenoiditis, and bronchitis, now is the time to vaccinate your child against pneumococcal infection, one of the most common causes of bacterial complications. In Moscow, you can get vaccinated with Prevenar and Synflorix at the medical center (metro stations “Otradnoye”, “Bibirevo”, “Vladykino”, North-East Administrative District).

Vaccine options

Vaccines against pneumococcal infection began to be developed only in the second half of the 20th century.
The difficulty in creating such vaccinations was (and is) the huge number of types of pneumococcus - more than 90 in total. First, a 14-valent vaccine was created. It began to be used in 1977. And in 1981 it was replaced by a 23-valent vaccine, which is still used today. But these vaccinations against pneumococcal infection could only be used by children from the age of two. And the most vulnerable group of young children still remained unprotected from pneumococci. Therefore, pharmaceutical companies around the world have begun developing a new generation of drugs - conjugate vaccines. The first such vaccine was the seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Prevenar. It included seven types of pneumococcus, each of which was conjugated with non-toxic diphtheria protein and adsorbed on aluminum phosphate. The following vaccinations are currently used in Russia: Pneumo-23 (non-conjugated polysaccharide vaccine), 13-valent Prevenar 13, 10-valent Synflorix. Prevenar vaccinations can be administered to all children from 2 months of age, 10-valent Synflorix (polysaccharide, conjugated with D-protein of non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae, tetanus and diphtheria toxoids, adsorbed) - from 6 weeks and Pneumo-23 vaccination "- only from 2 years old.

Features of the action and advantages of the Prevenar 13 vaccine

The peculiarity of the Prevenar 13 vaccine is that it creates specific protection against 13 types of pneumococci and promotes the formation of immune memory (antibodies that remain in the body for a long time and protect it from diseases).

Advantages of Prevenar 13:

• the possibility of vaccination for the most vulnerable patients - babies from 8 weeks. life;
• effectiveness against 90% of all serotypes of pneumococcal infection, which are the causative agents of invasive forms of the disease;
• the formation of antibodies after the first dose of the vaccine;
• eliminating errors in the dosage of the drug (the vaccine is already sold in a syringe in a precisely measured dosage).

Principles and purposes of vaccination

Pneumococcal disease is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Serious diseases often caused by pneumococci include pneumonia, meningitis, and bacteremia with fever. In 2005, WHO estimated that 1.6 million people die each year from pneumococcal disease. Therefore it must be prevented.

By the end of 2013, pneumococcal vaccination had been introduced in 103 countries, and immunization coverage had reached 25%. By order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 125 of March 21, 2014, vaccination against pneumococcal infection was introduced into the National Calendar of Preventive Vaccinations of the Russian Federation.

Prevenar vaccine: when to do it? Indications for vaccination

The main objectives of the Prevenar 13 vaccination are:

• formation of immunity against pneumococcal infections;
• minimizing the risk of developing complications after influenza, ARVI, rhinitis, including in patients with chronic diseases.

Who is recommended for vaccination with Prevenar 13:

• people with reduced immunity;
• patients with diabetes mellitus, heart and vascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, dysfunction of the spleen, etc.;
• smokers;
• children born prematurely;
• people working in large teams or in places with high traffic;
• persons planning to travel abroad to countries where the Prevenar 13 vaccine is included in the compulsory immunization card.

Doctors recommend getting vaccinated against pneumonia if:

• a simple cold is often complicated by a bacterial infection;
• you suffer from complicated acute respiratory viral infections several times a year (5 or more);
• in case of repeated illness complicated by bronchitis, pneumonia;
• in the presence of chronic diseases and conditions in which the risk of infection is very high, and infection with pneumococcus poses a danger to the patient’s life.

Vaccine effectiveness

In international practice, since 2000, vaccination has been used for immunoprophylaxis of pneumococcal infection in newborns and young children. According to WHO, world experience has shown that mass vaccination reduces the incidence of pneumococcal meningitis and severe pneumonia in children by more than 80% and the incidence of all pneumonia and otitis media by more than a third. The carriage of pneumococci in children is decreasing, and accordingly, both unvaccinated children and adults get sick less.

The World Health Organization projects that global use of pneumococcal vaccinations will prevent 5.4-7.7 million child deaths by 2030. The Prevenar13 vaccine protects against the thirteen most common types of pneumococcus, which cause up to 80% of pneumococcal infections.

Pneumococcal vaccination: everything you need to know

The pneumococcal vaccine is a “newcomer” in the Russian National Vaccination Calendar; it was introduced there only in 2014. The appearance of this vaccine caused a mixed reaction: some people perceived it with approval and understanding, others saw in the new drug another attempt to “conduct experiments” on a long-suffering population. Is it really needed? Let's figure it out.

Why is pneumococcus dangerous? Eight out of ten people with pneumonia and one in three who have had meningitis are victims of this infection. Streptococcus pneumonia is the name in Latin for the culprit of the most serious illnesses that have already ended tragically for one and a half million inhabitants of the Earth. Rapidly spreading through the bloodstream throughout the body, pneumococcal infection affects not only the lung tissue, but also other vital centers: the brain, heart, intestines, hematopoietic system, ENT organs... How infection occurs Pneumococcus can be infected both from already sick people and from bacteria carriers who themselves are healthy, but shed the infection through their breath or when sneezing. Carriers do not get sick because their infection nests in the nasopharynx, but the barrier organs do not allow it to go down to the lungs. Nasal mucus, saliva, ciliated cells of the respiratory organs and the secretion they produce, which helps cleanse the mucous membranes of pathogenic organisms, also prevent its reproduction and spread. This is if the person is generally healthy. However, this protective system of the body is sometimes disrupted by the influence of external and internal factors: • Hypothermia • Overfatigue • Mental stress • Lack of vitamins All together or individually, these factors weaken the immune system - and then the next attack of pneumococcal infection ends in illness. Who needs vaccination most? Victims of pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumonia most often become preschool children and elderly people who have crossed the sixty-year mark. In the Russian Federation, every year up to 70 thousand children fall ill with pneumococcal pneumonia, and approximately 2.5 million more go to the doctor with symptoms of otitis media - an extremely unpleasant infectious disease that is fraught with dangerous complications, including the development of complete deafness. The best and easiest way to protect a child or elderly family member is to get vaccinated against pneumococcal infection at a clinic. Vaccination is also necessary for those who have undergone surgery to remove the spleen, an important hematopoietic organ that also performs a protective function in the body. Vaccination against pneumococcal infection is mandatory for children raised in orphanages and for elderly people living in nursing homes. This is due to the crowded living conditions and the high likelihood of outbreaks of lobar pneumonia if one person suddenly falls ill. Vaccines For pneumococcal vaccinations, Russian doctors use imported vaccines - Prevenar and Pneumo-23. The drug "Prevenar" was created specifically for children. Initially, its scope of use was limited to seven serotypes of Streptococcus pneumonia, but several years later, American pharmacists added six more antigens to the development. "Pneumo-23". The number 23 in the name of this drug means that it fights twenty-three types of pneumococcal serotypes at once. The vaccine produces the best effect in combination with a flu shot - this is the combination that immunologists recommend it in. Vaccination against pneumococcal infection with the Pneumo-23 vaccine is performed once, its effect lasts for five years, after which revaccination is recommended. Weakened patients with nephrotic syndrome, chronic renal failure and other severe pathologies that cause a rapid decrease in antibodies to pneumococcus are re-vaccinated more often - after 1-3 years. Both the American and French vaccines are available in a dose of 0.5 immediately in syringes for ease of administration. It is important that they are compatible with most other vaccination materials that are recommended for use by the National Vaccination Program. The only exception is the BCG vaccine. The best age for vaccination The first pneumococcal vaccination is recommended in infancy: it is prescribed when the baby is two to three months old, after which he receives two more injections at an interval of 1.5 months. Then revaccination at one and a half years of age is highly desirable. But this vaccination schedule is valid only for Prevenar, an American drug that is considered the number one vaccine in the world against pneumococcal infection. French "Pneumo-23" can only be administered from two years of age. It is also recommended for vaccination of older people after they reach 65 years of age. Vaccination for adults is carried out once. What about younger people? They also have a risk of contracting pneumonia - especially if they work in hospitals, educational institutions, retail establishments and transport. Vaccination against pneumococcal infection will provide reliable protection against a serious and dangerous disease, so if your profession involves people, it is better to find time to get vaccinated. How to prepare for vaccination? If you are to be vaccinated against pneumococcus, you need to fulfill a number of important conditions that will help avoid complications in the future: 1. At the time of vaccination, a healthy child or adult should not have any signs of a cold - cough, runny nose or fever. To know this for sure, it is better to take basic clinical tests of blood and urine 2. Chronic diseases must be treated before vaccination in order to achieve stable remission. Vaccination against pneumococcal infection in children should be carried out only on the day of a healthy child - contacts with sick children waiting for their turn in the clinic corridors , can lead to infection with other infections, which will make themselves felt in a few days, and will look like complications after receiving the vaccination. Contraindications The pneumococcal vaccination can be done without fear for your health. The vaccines described above are high quality and have only standard contraindications: • Intolerance to the components of the vaccine material; • Previously noted allergy to the same vaccination, if it is already time for revaccination; • The first two trimesters of pregnancy, unless there are separate recommendations from a doctor; • Respiratory diseases at the time of vaccination; • Exacerbation of chronic pathologies; • Feverish conditions of any origin Side effects After vaccination against pneumococcal infection, most children and adults usually do not experience any significant side effects, but doctors warn about possible ailments that may appear in the first 12-24 hours after vaccination. This is a short-term rise in temperature, redness, soreness or mild itching at the injection site, and general malaise - weakness, drowsiness (or, conversely, insomnia). All these symptoms are harmless and disappear within a day. If they appear two or three days after vaccination against pneumococcus, then we can say with confidence: the vaccine is definitely not to blame. Perhaps on the day of vaccination the person already had a slight cold, and a small dose of the drug accelerated the disease - the same ARVI or flu. That is why doctors especially insist on examination before any vaccinations, so as not to provoke the onset of another infectious disease. How to behave after vaccination? • Rest more on the first day • If the temperature rises above 38, take an antipyretic - paracetamol or nurofen • Do not treat the injection site with anything • It is quite possible to wash a baby or an adult: water does not affect the skin around the vaccination in any way You will definitely need to see a doctor if you have a fever lasts (or even worsens) for longer than a day, and at the injection site there is swelling of more than five centimeters, thickening and discharge. What does mass vaccination against pneumonia provide? Research shows that if mass vaccination campaigns are carried out, the incidence of lobar pneumonia, purulent meningitis and other variants of the course of pneumococcal infection decreases by six times. Vaccinated children and adults are less likely to get sick with other forms of respiratory diseases - influenza, ARVI, bronchitis. The number of otitis media, sinusitis and sore throats is significantly reduced. Even if pneumococcal infection does occur, the disease is much milder and never ends in death, and the treatment time is significantly shortened. In addition, there is no need to use strong and expensive drugs in therapeutic regimens. Croupous pneumonia This is the name for inflammation that involves the entire lobe of the lung. This severe variant of the disease is most often caused by pneumococcus; another pathogen is the root cause quite rarely. When the lungs are affected, clinically it looks like this: • Severe cough with chest pain and shortness of breath • High temperature • Intoxication - weakness, tachycardia Somewhat later, these symptoms are joined by herpetic rashes on the wings of the nose and around the lips, sometimes a bluish tint of the skin is noted on the fingertips , around the mouth. When listening to breathing, the chest on the affected side of the lung “lags behind”; on the first day, characteristic tympanic sounds are heard, which then become dull. On the second day of the disease, dry, fine-bubble wheezing with a characteristic crunching sound (crepitus) becomes clearly audible in the lungs. The symptoms of lobar pneumonia depend on the location of the outbreak. Thus, the inflammatory process in the upper lobe of the right lung can add to the picture of the disease phenomena that can be confused with the onset of meningitis: • Convulsions • Rigidity of the neck • Intense headache • Vomiting If the focus is in the lower lobe of the right lung, then it provokes the appearance of abdominal pain , which are similar to the symptoms of appendicitis, food poisoning, pancreatitis. In addition, patients complain of diarrhea, bloating and belching, which further complicates diagnosis and requires the doctor to be especially careful when interpreting the examination results. In order not to make a mistake with the diagnosis, the doctor must refer the patient for an x-ray, sputum analysis and a general blood test, which show changes specific to lobar pneumonia. The peak of the disease occurs approximately on the third day: the cough intensifies, becomes even more painful, and the secreted sputum turns brownish. Shortness of breath becomes more pronounced, cyanosis increases. The temperature can last up to ten days, and the disease itself can last up to three weeks. The body spends up to one and a half months after recovery to restore lung tissues affected by pneumococcal infection. Head of the pulmonology department of TGKB 5 Andrey Arsentievich Martynov : - Pneumococcus is now the causative agent of approximately half of all cases of pneumonia. And statistics kept since 2014 show: where mass vaccination against pneumococcus takes place, the morbidity and mortality of the population from pneumonia decreases sharply. So I highly recommend not neglecting this vaccination, at least vaccinating your children, and if you have chronic diseases - diabetes, heart failure, asthma, COPD - then you absolutely must get vaccinated, for your body this will be the main protection against illness, which is deadly for you. Let me also remind you that pneumococcus causes not only pneumonia, but also many different forms of acute respiratory infections, sinusitis, otitis, and meningitis. By the way, the same statistics show that if you at least vaccinate children, adults around you get sick less. So take advantage of the fact that childhood vaccines are included in the National Immunization Schedule and protect your child.

Contraindications

For pneumococcal conjugate vaccines: increased sensitivity to previous vaccination (severe generalized allergic reactions); hypersensitivity to diphtheria toxoid and/or excipients; acute infectious or non-infectious diseases, exacerbations of chronic diseases. Vaccinations against pneumococcal infection are carried out after recovery or during remission. Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines: pronounced reaction to the previous vaccination, PPV23 vaccination less than 3 years before the intended PPV23 vaccination.

High temperature after pneumococcal vaccination: normal or cause for alarm?

Vaccines used for children are easily tolerated by the body.
In very rare cases, side effects may occur, including increased body temperature. Fever occurs in 1% of patients. This is considered a completely normal phenomenon and is explained by the fact that the natural reaction of the immune system to the administered drug, which contains a certain number of pathogens, has worked.

It is important that the child’s body has properly formed immunity against serious diseases. The temperature can vary, ranging from low (up to 37.5 °C) to high (38-39 °C).

When to vaccinate?

The following administration schedules are available for pneumococcal conjugate vaccines:

For children at risk, there is a booster vaccination scheme with polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine (PPV23) no earlier than 2 months after PCV administration.

It is recommended to begin immunization of adults with PCV13 vaccination to form immune memory and increase the duration of possible protection against pneumococci. A similar booster vaccination with PPV23 in adults is carried out no earlier than 12 months after the introduction of PCV.