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Home › Articles › Toddler Health › Beyond Pneumonia

Beyond Pneumonia

Benefits of the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine

By Teri Brown

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Though recommended by the Centers for Disease Control in the year 2000, most parents haven't even heard of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Kristen Stewart from Plainsboro, N.J., is one of the few who have.

"I knew what the vaccine was for and the doctor did give me information about it," Stewart says. "My first son had gotten a lot of ear infections so I was happy to have my daughter get the vaccination when it became available. In fact, even though my son was at the top of the recommended age range I asked if he could get it too. I have noticed both my daughter and second son (who also got the shots) had many less ear infections than my first son."

For parents who have lived through the trauma of multiple ear infections, pneumonia and meningitis, the vaccine can be a real blessing.

What Is the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine?
Dr. Carlos Grijalva, assistant professor of preventive medicine for Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., says that pneumococci are bacteria (germs) that cause ear infections, pneumonia and meningitis in young children. According to Dr. Grijalva, there are more than 90 different types of pneumococci. This vaccine protects against the seven types that cause 80 percent of disease in young children in the United States.

"The vaccine was recommended because it was proven to protect children from serious infections such as meningitis and infections of the bloodstream that sometimes cause death," Dr. Grijalva says. "These types of infections have decreased dramatically since use of this vaccine began. The vaccine combines sugars from the outer coat of the bacteria with non-toxic proteins and causes the body to make antibodies that help fight infection from pneumococcal bacteria."

Benefits of the Vaccine
The most obvious benefit to the vaccine has been healthier children. Though most everyone carries some pneumococci bacteria within their systems, it is the very young who are the most susceptible to it, as their immature immune systems can't fight the bacteria off. The vaccine, which children are to receive at 2, 4 and 6 months of age with a booster dose given at 12 to 15 months, has done much to eliminate those infections.


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