UK govt claims 300 children saved by vacc

The UK's Department of Health has produced figures which indicate that "over 300 children" have avoided meningitis, septicemia and severe pneumonia after being inoculated with US drug major Wyeth's Prevenar (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) in the first year of its use beginning September 2006 (Marketletter July 17, 2006). The vaccine protects against the seven most common strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Of the children who avoided the diseases in the first year of the program, 17 would be expected to have died, according to government estimates.

The Health Protection Agency's data also shows that coverage for the immunization scheme is currently at 86% in the UK. Suspicion by some parents of the triple measles-mumps-rubella vaccine has been blamed for a reduced uptake in child vaccination programs in the UK (Marketletters passim). However, a spokesperson at the Department of Health told the Marketletter that "we're very pleased with the results for the first year" of Prevenar use. She also added that compliance with the MMR inoculation has been on the rise in recent years, reaching 84% according to the latest data.