Madrid, November 6 (European Press) –
Although in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, there was a significant decrease in cases of invasive pneumococcal disease in the age group <2 years, in 2022, coinciding with the end of non-pharmacological measures, a return to preventive measures was observed - to epidemic levels, By 2023, serotype 3 will increase significantly in children and will also become the predominant serotype in adults over 65 years of age.
This is one of the main conclusions reached by experts within the framework of World Pneumonia Day, celebrated on November 12. Therefore, they warn of the importance of epidemiological surveillance to identify the most prevalent and severe serotypes.
“Given the evolutionary nature of bacteria, it is essential to have a strong epidemiological surveillance system that can assess at any time the most prevalent serotypes, allowing the strategy to be modified by combining vaccines that best meet the needs of each moment,” he noted in La Paz, Madrid said Dr. Fernando Baquero Artigao, coordinator of the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at University Hospital.
In Spain, the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines has contributed to reducing the incidence of vaccine serotypes causing invasive and non-invasive disease in vaccinated and unvaccinated children and adults. “Systemic pneumococcal vaccination of children can reduce the disease burden and the most severe cases. The most vulnerable are children under 5 years of age and especially those under 2 years of age,” explains Dr. Fernando Baquero Mochales, research professor in the field of biology and microbial evolution at the Ramon Cajal Institute of Health (IRYCIS), Ramon Cajal Hospital Microbiology Service.
“The development of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines represents a huge advance, as they offer more robust long-term protection and target the nasopharynx in children, which is the main source of disease transmission,” added Baquero Mochales, He is also a researcher on the vaccine. Group 33 of the Biomedical Research Center of the Epidemiology and Public Health Network (CIBERESP).
Dr. Gonzalo Fernández, Medical Director of Vaccines and General Medicine at Merck, focused on Merck’s work. “Currently, our focus is on delivering strong protection against the most aggressive serotypes, such as serotype 3. At Merck, we are committed to using research as a foundational role to provide specialized designs for future needs that are not currently covered answer,” he stressed.