Pneumococcus vaccine could save a million young lives
Vaccinating infants against pneumococcus – a bacterium that causes pneumonia, meningitis and bloodstream infections – could prevent up to a million deaths every year among children in developing countries. In a joint study by MRC researchers and scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 17,000 infants in The Gambia were vaccinated against pneumococcus and tracked for four years. The results showed a 17 per cent drop in the number of deaths and a 37per cent decrease in cases of pneumonia.
The Lancet 2005; 365: 1139-1146