November 29, 2007 – Cape Town, South Africa. The GAVI Alliance Board announced support for the introduction of pneumococcal vaccines into Nicaragua, Guyana and Honduras. In order to build sustainability of immunization programs, all countries that receive GAVI vaccine introduction support share the cost of these vaccines by making small co-payments between $0.10 and 0.30 per dose. These introductions are expected in early 2008 and will mark the first of their kind in GAVI countries. GAVI Fund Chair Graca Michel said, “The vaccines and good health that are regularly enjoyed by children in the north should equally be enjoyed by children in the south. The decisions taken today [29 November] and the ongoing hard work being undertaken by the GAVI Alliance partners bring us so much closer to providing just that.”

PACE Launch in the Czech Republic - The Pneumococcal Awareness Council of Experts, a project of the Sabin Vaccine Institute (www.sabin.org/PACE) have been continuing their efforts to raise awareness of pneumococcal disease, this time with their first in-country launch. Held on November 20 in Prague, PACE was represented by council member Dr. Pavla Krizova.
Following on the success of PACE’s global launches this year, in Washington DC and Geneva, this in-country event was designed to introduce PACE to key NGO’s and professional societies in the Czech Republic and raise awareness about pneumococcal disease as the Ministry of Health considers implementation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for Czech infants.
The event generated widespread and positive coverage about pneumococcal disease prevention. Reporters from the country’s top wire service and daily newspapers and more than 40 representatives from professional societies, the Ministry of Health and industry attended the event. Immediately following the launch, Dr. Krizova and other event speakers made presentations at Parliament about pneumococcal disease.

Ireland Introducing Pneumococcal Vaccination - The Irish Health & Safety Executive (HSE) will be introducing PCV7 in 2008 and aims to provide it to more than 65,000 children next year as part of the childhood immunization program. The HSE says that a catch-up program involving over 110, 000 older children who have missed out on the vaccine will also begin.

December 13-14, 2007 – Seoul, Korea. Leading experts, policymakers, decision-makers, and opinion leaders from 28 countries from the Asia-Pacific Region gathered at the First Symposium on Pneumococcal Vaccination in the Asia-Pacific Region to address obstacles and propose solutions to fight against childhood pneumococcal disease. Comprehensive presentations and round table discussions included the science of pneumococcal disease ranging from surveillance methods to dynamics of sertoype distribution, the options for country vaccine financing and efforts for advocacy. The Asian Strategic Alliance for Pneumococcal disease prevention (ASAP) was launched by chair, Dr Lulu Bravo, at a press conference during the symposium. Its mission is “to contain and control pneumococcal disease in the Asian region through awareness, surveillance, advocacy and prevention.” Over 11 countries in Asia are represented in ASAP by over 25 members. This symposium was hosted by International Vaccine Institute. For more information about the symposium and the press conferences, please visit www.ivi.org

GFIMS Report Released - The WHO recently launched its Global Framework for Immunization Monitoring and Surveillance (GFIMS). The document defines and describes the essential components of the global framework, factors contributing to changes in VPD surveillance & program monitoring landscape, goals, the anticipated impact of reaching these goals and also the risks of failing to reach them by 2010. This is an important indicator of the role and direction for WHO and surveillance for pneumococcal disease (and other vaccine preventable diseases) in the years to come. To read the full report, click here.

Access to Pneumococcal Vaccines for HIV-Infected Children - An Op-Ed piece by Orin Levine and Paul Zeitz, published in the Philadelphia Inquirer on December 13th, calls attention to the need for access to pneumococcal and other life-saving vaccines for HIV-infected children, who are not only particularly at risk for infection, but who also, once sick, are more likely to die from these infections. While pneumococcal vaccines have become available to developed countries there is an urgent need to provide them to children in developing countries, where the highest rates of HIV occur in the world and where 90 per cent of all global childhood pneumococcal deaths occur. Click here to see the Op-Ed online.

Research News: Economic Benefits of PCV7 Introduction in the U.S. - A recent study examined the effect of PCV7 on rates of pneumonia-related health care utilization and costs in children less than 2 years of age. A retrospective cohort was used to compare outcome rates in 2004 with baseline rates from 1997 to 1999. It was found that in children younger than 2 years, pneumonia-related health care utilization in a privately insured population declined substantially following PCV7 introduction. While several studies have found that widespread PCV7 immunization could have an effect on pneumococcal-related community-acquired pneumonia, few studies have evaluated the population impact of PCV7 on all-cause pneumonia and pneumococcal pneumonia. This study is particularly important as it is the first to assess the economic implication associated with potential reductions in childhood pneumonia. These results suggest that PCV7 not only may play an important role in reducing the burden of pneumonia, but consequently the vaccine contributes to major savings in medical care cost. These findings provide economic incentives for PCV7 introduction to countries worldwide. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007 Dec;161(12):1162-8

PneumoADIP Research & Surveillance Report - PneumoADIP is proud to announce the first edition of it’s Research and Surveillance Report, which describes the important work supported by the PneumoADIP at sites around the globe. An extensive network of investigators are conducting pneumococcal disease surveillance in both rural and urban areas while working to promote information sharing on disease serotypes and antimicrobial-resistance patterns among local clinicians and policy-makers. The report showcases the objectives, methods and results of surveillance and research activities ongoing in Africa, Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean Region and elsewhere, and can be used as a tool for the development of broader regional and local surveillance activities. For an electronic copy of the report, please visit: http://www.preventpneumo.org/activities/surveillance_research/

Dr. Angelica Floren is currently president of the Fundacion Dominicana de Infectologia of Florida (www.dominicankids.org), a non-profit, tax exempt organization dedicated to the economic support of the Department of Infectious Diseases of Robert Reid Children’s (RRC) Hospital. She has worked in the RRC pediatric and the newborn intensive care unit for 15 years and has also been Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the division of Neonatology at the University of Miami in Florida since 1990. PneumoADIP had the pleasure of interviewing her on her experiences with the foundation and with pneumococcal disease in the Dominican Republic. Click here to read her interview.

Sabin Gold Medal & Young Investigators Award Nominations due by December 21, 2007 – For more information please visit www.sabin.org

Robert Austrian Award Applications to be Submitted by March 1, 2008 - Eligible candidates include young scientists (<40 years of age) who are either Ph.D. students or post-doctoral fellows. Applications/nominations must be submitted with a research proposal, curriculum vitae with a list of publications and a letter of recommendation. For more information, click here

The 3rd Regional Pneumococcal Symposium will be held from February 13-14, 2008 in Istanbul, Turkey. For more information and to register please visit www.pneumo2008.com

The 13th International Congress on Infectious Diseases will be held from June 19-22, 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The deadline for abstract submission is February 13th, 2008. For more information please visit: www.isid.org/13th_icid

June 8-12, 2008 – ISPPD6 (6th International Symposium on Pneumococci & Pneumococcal Diseases) in Reykjavik, Iceland. Abstracts are due by January 15th. Don’t miss this opportunity to participate in the major symposium on pneumococcal disease in 2008.