Herd immunity from pneumococcal vaccines

October 27, 2005

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Scientists have found a surprising new way to protect older people from pneumonia: Give their grandchildren a vaccine. New research shows that serious pneumonia infections have dropped sharply among people 50 and older ever since a children's pneumococcal vaccine became available five years ago.The number of serious pneumococcal infections dropped by 79 percent among children, and 28 percent among people 50 and older, in the first four years the children's vaccine was used, according to a study in today's Journal of the American Medical Association. The bacteria can cause ear infections or pneumonia in young children, and dangerous bloodstream infections in older adults.

Source: Changing Epidemiology of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Among Older Adults in the Era of Pediatric Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine by Lexau et al, JAMA. 2005;294:2043-2051. here.

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