MEDIA

1. Pneumococcus linked to high meningitis mortality in Burkina Faso

From January 1 to March 22, 2009, the mortality rate for bacterial meningitis in Burkina Faso was 13%, compared to less than 10% during this same time period last year, according to the Burkina Faso Ministry of Health . The actual number of meningitis cases during this time period is less than half of last year (2,760 versus 6,604 cases) since which time a vaccination campaign against Neisseria meningitidisType A has begun in a central district of the country. However, Ousmane Badolo, chief epidemiologist for meningitis control at the Burkina Faso Ministry of Health, attributed the increased mortality rate to the fact that "the majority of the infections [this year] have been caused by pneumococcus." The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, which could prevent many of these deaths, is not widely available in Burkina Faso, although the country has expressed interest in obtaining GAVI assistance to introduce the vaccine nationally. Instead, Baso explained, the only option for health care workers is to attempt treatment with antibiotics, which often fail to prevent disability and death among infected individuals.

2. "VACFA -Vaccines for Africa" website launched

The University of Cape Town's Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDMM) and its partners recently launched a new advocacy website, VACFA – Vaccines for Africa. Spearheaded by Professor Gregory Hussey, Director of the IDDM, the site is a dynamic forum for parents, health professionals and other stakeholders to exchange the most up-to-date information on the vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases most important in Africa. Professor Hussey exaplains, "Africa lags behind other continents in the uptake of life-saving vaccines, even though vaccine-preventable diseases are causing avoidable deaths in Africa. There needs to be a coordinated advocacy effort from within Africa to change this, and much of this is about access to information." The website currently focuses on the rotavirus vaccine, but also contains extensive information on vaccines against pneumococcus, human papilloma virus and meningococcus, as well as combination vaccines. For more information, please visit: http://www.vacfa.com

3. Child health experts call for inclusion of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine into India's National Immunisation Programme

In April, 125 child health experts gathered in Indiato urge leaders to take immediate steps to control pneumonia. The conference was hosted by the Asian Strategic Alliance for Pneumococcal disease prevention (ASAP) and the Indian Academy of Pediatrics, and took place in Pune, India. Participants agreed that widespread use of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) is a critical step in preventing pneumococcal disease, and urged the Ministry of Health to include PCV in India's National Immunisation Programme (NIP). At the conference, Dr. Y.K. Amdekar estimated that the introduction of PCV-7 into the NIP would prevent nearly 100,000 deaths among children under age five in India. The World Health Organization recommends that inclusion of PCV in routine childhood immunization programs should be a priority, particularly in countries where the under-five mortality is greater than 50 per 1,000 live births, or where greater than 50,000 children die annually; India meets both of these criteria.

4. Global Health Technologies Coalition receives multi-year grant to support advocacy efforts

The Global Health Technologies Coalition recently received a three-year grantfrom the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to advocate for the development and delivery of new health technologies to developing countries. Comprised of more than 25 non-profit organizations, the coalition is dedicated to increasing awareness among policymakers in the United States about the need for new vaccines, drugs and diagnostics to fight HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases in developing countries. Members work to achieve these goals by focusing on public resources, regulatory pathways, and incentives and innovative financing. The coalition's secretariat is hosted at PATH. For more information on the Global Health Technologies Coalition, visit http://www.path.org/projects/ghtc.php

5. Intercell launches Phase 1 trial of novel protein-based pneumococcal vaccine

In April, Intercell AG announced the launch of a first-in-man Phase 1 clinical trialto test the safety and immunogenicity of IC47, its candidate vaccine against Pneumococcus . IC47 is a recombinant subunit vaccine consisting of three surface proteins from Streptococcus pneumoniae that are common to all pneumococcal serotypes. This type of "common protein" vaccine may help to provide broad protection against pneumococcal disease for children in different areas of the world. "The initiation of this clinical Phase I trial is an important step to further strengthen Intercell's leading position in the development of vaccines against infectious diseases with significant unmet medical need," explained Alexander von Gabain, Intercell's Chief Scientific Officer. The trial will be an open-label study of two different doses of the vaccine with or without adjuvant and will be tested in 32 healthy adult volunteers. The development of this vaccine is supported by PATH.

RESEARCH

6. Researchers estimate burden of pneumococcal disease among children in Latin America and the Caribbean

Valenzuela and colleagues conducted a systematic review (1990-2006)of data on the incidence of pneumococcal disease among children under age five in Latin America and the Caribbean. Published in the March 2009 edition of Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública(Pan American Journal of Public Health), the results suggest an estimated annual burden of 980,000 to 1,500,000 cases of pneumococcal pneumonia, and 2,600 to 6,8000 cases of pneumococcal meningitis among children under age five in the region. In addition, the authors project that pneumococcal disease causes an estimated 12,000 to 28,000 deaths each year.
These findings underscore the need for widespread use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, which could prevent more than half of the pneumococcal disease cases and deaths in this region. Widespread use is estimated to result in 1 child's life saved for every 1,100 children vaccinated, and 1 case of pneumococcal disease prevented for every 13 children vaccinated.

7. Clinical tool developed to predict failed response to therapy in children with severe pneumonia

Researchers led by Dr. Mamju Mantani of India's Lata Medical Research Foundation developed a simple, inexpensive three-component clinical toolto predict treatment failuresin children with pneumonia. With treatment failure rates of up to 20% in children with severe pneumonia under age five, and considering the expense of methods such as chest radiography and pulse oximetry normally used to identify cases at risk of treatment failure, the new method could be important for use in the developing country setting. The tool consists of three clinical predictors: age of patient, excess age-specific respiratory rate at baseline and at 24-hours of hospitalization. In two trials, the tool had a predictive accuracy of 70% and 66%. A similar, although non-significant, predictive accuracy was also observed in HIV-positive children. A nomogram for use by trained health workers was developed and can be found in the citation by Mantani, et al.

8. Study reveals high incidence of childhood pneumonia at high altitudes in Pakistan

In a recent edition of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Khan et al report on a longitudinal cohort study conducted in a northern region of Pakistanbetween 2001-2002 designed to elucidate factors associated with a high incidence of pneumonia in children. Younger children, males and those living at high altitude were at greater risk of contracting pneumonia and among children who had suffered one bout of the disease, 28% suffered multiple episodes. The rates of pneumonia found in this region of Pakistan, although similar to other high-altitude settings, are much higher than those reported in lower altitude regions in the country.

9. Administration of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine at earlier age may reduce burden of invasive pneumococcal disease, study suggests

Using data from the Active Bacterial Core Surveillance project, researchers in North Carolina developed a predictive modelthat suggests early administration of the first dose pneumococcal vaccine at 6 weeks of age instead of 8 weeks of age could have prevented approximately 100 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease per year in infants between two and three months of age (direct effect). At vaccine efficacies of 50%, 70% and 90%, the vaccine would prevent an estimated 39.9%, 56% and 72.1% of invasive disease in this age group, respectively. The US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends a "3+1" dosing schedule at 2, 4 6 and 12 to 15 months of age, although guidelines to allow for administration of the first dose at 6 weeks. In addition, it is expected that an indirect effect observed in several studies could increase the utility of accelerating the first dose of pneumococcal vaccine in infants.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is recruiting for two positions with the Meningococcal Carriage Consortium:Project Leaderand Serology Coordinator. For further information, contact the LSHTM Personnel Office at personnel@lshtm.ac.uk; 020.7927.2203. Closing date for applications is 19 June 2009.

Updates for the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) Site Application Process.Thank you for your interest. We are going to be posting answers to frequently asked questions: here. We are also going to add some updated and improved guidelines for budgeting which will be available under “updates” herewithin a week or two.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Global Meeting on Implementing New and Under-Utilized Vaccineswill take place June 16-18, 2009 in Montreux, Switzerland. For more information, visit http://www.who.int/nuvi/events/en

The European Society for Paedriatic Infectious Diseaseswill hold its 27th Annual MeetingJune 9-13, 2009 in Brussels, Belgium. The main theme will be "Serious Bacterial Infections." Registration and additional information is available at http://www2.kenes.com/espid/Pages/home.aspx

The 15th International Conference on Vaccines for Enteric Diseaseswill take place September 9-11, 2009 in Malaga, Spain. Abstract proposals for poster presentations will be accepted until August 28, 2009. For more information on abstract submission and registration, visit http://www.meetingsmanagement.com/ved_2009/index.htm

The 3rd International Conference on Modern Vaccines Adjuvants & Delivery Systemswill be held on October 28-30, 2009 in Vienna, Austria. Abstract proposal for poster presentations will be accepted until September 18, 2009. For more information on abstract submission and registration, visit http://www.meetingsmanagement.com/mvads_2009/index.htm

The International Neonatal and Maternal Immunization Symposium (INMIS 2009)will be held in Antalya, Turkey, November 8-9 2009. The deadline for abstract submission is August 5, 2009. Additional information is available at http://www.inmis2009.org

www.preventpneumo.org Audience Survey

PneumoADIP is conducting a quick survey about www.preventpneumo.org/www.pneumoadip.org in order to guide the next iteration of the website. It will be re-designed to better serve colleagues with tools and data in their efforts to accelerate pneumococcal vaccine introduction. Thank you in advance for your valuable feedback! Click hereto take the survey!