Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine use during humanitarian crises

A multitude of risk factors that are enhanced during crises increase pneumococcal transmission and disease severity.

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common human commensal that causes a sizeable part of the overall childhood mortality in low income settings. Populations affected by humanitarian crises are at especially high risk, because a multitude of risk factors that are enhanced during crises increase pneumococcal transmission and disease severity. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) provide effective protection and have been introduced into the majority of routine childhood immunisation programmes globally, though several barriers have hitherto limited their uptake during humanitarian crises.

This research was supported by the Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) Programme

Citation

Kevin van Zandvoort, Francesco Checchi, Emma Diggle, Rosalind M. Eggo, Kartini Gadroen, Kim Mulholland, Catherine R. McGowan, Olivier le Polain de Waroux, V. Bhargavi Rao, Catherine Satzke, Stefan Flasche, Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine use during humanitarian crises, Vaccine, Volume 37, Issue 45, 2019, Pages 6787-6792, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.09.038.

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine use during humanitarian crises

Published 23 October 2019