Pneumococcal Disease
More children die each year from pneumonia than from any other infectious disease - even more than from malaria or AIDS - according to the World Health Organization. And a majority of these deaths occur in developing countries. A bacterium, Streptococcus pneumoniae (also known as pneumococcus), is the leading cause of severe pneumonia in children. Currently the WHO estimates that pneumococcal disease are responsible for between 800,000 and 1 million child deaths each year.
Pneumococcal infections are common. Some infections go on to become severe diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis, but most infections occur without any symptoms or present as less severe, more common illnesses such as ear infections or mild respiratory infections. Pneumococcal meningtitis is the most severe form of pneumococcal disease and one of the most fatal childhood illnesses. In developing countries, it kills or disables 40% to 75% of the children who get it.
HIV and Antibiotic Resistance Threaten to Worsen the Situation Nearly all of these pneumococcal deaths occur in developing countries. Without a concerted international effort, the situation may get significantly worse, in the next 20 years.
A recently published study suggests that the problem will increase in the wake of increasing HIV infection. Data from a South African study show that children with HIV/AIDS are 20 to 40 times more likely to get pneumococcal disease than children without HIV/AIDS.
Pneumococcal infections are becoming more difficult to treat because of increasing resistance to some of the most commonly used antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance has economic as well as clinical consequences. Overuse of antibiotics leads to increased resistance and threatens the effectiveness of existing therapy, which in turn increases the cost of treatment by requiring the use of more expensive antibiotics.
Aiming to Save more Lives by Accelerating Vaccinations
New, lifesaving pneumococcal vaccines are now available. They are safe and highly effective in preventing pneumoccoccal disease, including pneumonia and meningitis. However, without a coordinated effort by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI)'s PneumoADIP, it is likely to take 20 years or more for these vaccines to reach even one quarter of the children in the world's developing countries. This concerted effort will require resources and sustained international commitment but this looks pale in comarison to inaction- leaving up to 1 million children to die each year from a vaccine-preventable disease.
The PneumoADIP Mission: To Improve Child Survival and Health by Accelerating The Evaluation of and Access to New Lifesaving Pneumococcal Vaccines For The World's Children.
Topics:
The PneumoADIP team is a small, dedicated team based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is supported by a $30 million grant from GAVI, and its partner, The Vaccine Fund. PneumoADIP aims to achieve its goals through partnership with countries, donors, academia, international organizations, and industry. PneumoADIP coordinates its activities through a strategic alliance with WHO.
The PneumoADIP is organized around 3 main areas of activities:
Antibiotics
Antibiotics have been used for prevention of acute otitis media in children under the following circumstances:
- If the child has had three or more separate ear infections every six months.
- If the child has had four or more ear infections within a year.
Almost all physicians are moving away from this practice, however, because of concerns about resistance and questions on their value. The following are some observations on this issue:
MRC scientists have recently discovered that a significant proportion of pneumonia in children is not caused by a virus, but by a bacterium - the pneumococcus. This has important implications for the treatment of children.
World Health Organisation statistics state pneumonia as the leading cause of death in children worldwide. Almost four million children die of the disease each year - most of them in developing countries.
Standard Antibiotics for Acute Otitis Media (AOM)
While many different antibiotics may be used to effectively treat otitis media, the physician needs to balance effectiveness, safety, and convenience, as well as try to minimize the emergence of resistance. To this end the CDC has made very clear recommendations about first and second line treatments
First Line of Therapy
As many as one in seven people contracting HIV-AIDS today are being infected with "superbugs" that are resistant to many medications, according to new research.
"Some people are going to become infected with a virus that might not be impossible, but will be more difficult to treat," said Frederick Hecht, Research Director at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
List of Questions
Q1.How we can ensure neonat health service in a rural setting in the developing countries?
Q2.What are the fatal diseases of early childhood? How to manage a case of Penumonia in an infant?
Q3 It is said in the text books and some other literatures that "bathing the baby immediately after birth is not necessary? If not, why not? What happens if the baby is bathe immediately after birth?
Q4.Would you please tell us how could immunization help children's health?
Researchers report that GSK Biologicals' RTS.S/AS02A malaria vaccine candidate protected a significant percentage of children against uncomplicated malaria. infection, and even severe forms of the disease for at least six months. This largest malaria vaccine efficacy trial ever conducted in Africa also re-confirmed the vaccine's safety in one-to-four year old children. Further efficacy studies will be needed before consideration for licensure.
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