New vaccine prevents ear infections, pneumonia and meningitis

Many people are not aware that there is a new vaccine that prevents ear infections, pneumonia, and meningitis. This is the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Kristen Steward of Plainsboro, NJ, is one of the few parents who knew about the vaccine and made fun of their children. She was very impressed by the fact that her children weren’t going to get more ear infections, because she always had to miss work to take care of them, and they were always suffering when they got the infection.

There are 90 different types of pneumococci, and 7 of them are known to most often affect children. The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is designed to fight all 7 types of pneumococcus by helping the body make the antibodies necessary to stop this bacteria.

The vaccine has been created especially for children, because they are very susceptible to the bacteria and can easily become infected. Three injections are required, at 2, 4, and 6 months of age, and a booster dose at 15 months.

Dr. C. Grijalva, assistant professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, studied the impact of this vaccine among children and the conclusions were that the number of ear infections in young children decreased since it appeared the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

This vaccine practically prevents the patient from using antibiotics and parents skipping work.

The fact that antibiotics are not used in such a large amount is beneficial for everyone, because it will slow down the process of antibiotic resistance among pneumococci.

It seems that the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is also effective against Streptococcus Pneumoniae, preventing infections caused by it, such as pneumonia, which is a dangerous disease especially in children and people who have a weakened immune system.

Dr. Michael Pichichero, a professor of pediatrics, medicine, and microbiology / immunology at the University of Rochester, said that there have been an increasing number of ear infections caused by Haemophilus influenzae lately. This fact leads doctors to reconsider the common antibiotic prescribed for the ear because the ones used generally are not helpful against Haemophilus influenzae.

Doctors do not know what causes each ear infection and to find out, they must perform a puncture in the ear, which can be painful and complicated. Therefore, they prescribe an antibiotic for the most likely cause of the infection, but that antibiotic could be wrong. Lately, cephalosporins have been shown to be effective in most types of ear infections.

It is definitely important to take this pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, because it can absolve your children of all the suffering and pain they are exposed to when they have an ear infection, pneumonia or meningitis, which are dangerous diseases for babies.