JEDDAH, 25 April 2007 — Vaccination experts discussed the importance of routine pneumococcal immunization in young children, in response to a recent announcement of World Health Organization (WHO), at a meeting held here recently.
They called for the inclusion of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in national immunization programs worldwide. Pneumococcal diseases include bacteremia, meningitis, and pneumonia and otitis media.
Meetings held in Riyadh, Alkhobar and Jeddah themed ‘Helping to save lives today’ was aimed at highlighting the burden of pneumococcal diseases and potential prevention through routine vaccination, especially with the increased usage of antibiotics,” said Dr. Atef Shebil, professor of microbiology at King Saud University.
“We are very glad that health care practitioners in Saudi Arabia are proactive and eager to introduce and educate the public on the importance of vaccinating against such life threatening diseases.”
Young children are carriers of pneumococcal diseases and the main source of transmission to grandparents, who have lower immunity. WHO estimates that more than one million young children die each year worldwide due to pneumococcal diseases.
Pneumococcal diseases can lead to a hearing loss, paralysis and sometimes death. Due to the rise in antibiotic resistance of pneumococcal diseases and the high rate of mortality, the focus of international disease management has shifted from treatment to prevention.
Experts discussed the importance of implementing a number of prevention methods against pneumococcal diseases in the Kingdom.
“Prevention of pneumococcal diseases through the vaccination of young children is now recognized as an essential step in worldwide immunization.
Reducing the burden of pneumococcal diseases is a vital step toward achieving the UN’s millennium goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.” said Dr. Mark A Fletcher, international scientific and clinical affairs, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Paris.