BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: The availability of a type-specific pneumococcal vaccine for children is a worldwide problem. It is necessary to study the serotypes prevalent in a country before introducing a type-specific vaccine. The objective of the present study was to analyse the prevalence of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes in children suffering from acute otitis media or invasive pneumococcal disease and to compare a coverage of serotypes by individual pneumococcal vaccines. METHODS: Children suffering from acute otitis media and invasive pneumococcal disease were analysed in the Czech Republic from October 1999 to November 2000. Serotyping was performed by the quellung technique using antisera from Statens Serum Institute (Denmark). RESULTS: The most frequent serotypes in patients with acute otitis media were 3, 19F, 23F, 14, 9V, 1, 6B, 11A and 28F. Vaccine coverage for the identified serotypes in acute otitis media patients was 52.1 per cent for the 7-valent vaccine, 57.8 per cent for the 9-valent vaccine and 75.7 per cent for the 11-valent form of the vaccine. In 108 patients with invasive pneumococcal disease, the most frequent serotypes were 6B, 9V, 14, 19F, 3 and 23F. Vaccine coverage for the identified serotypes in patients with invasive pneumococcal disease was 62 per cent for the 7-valent vaccine, 66.4 per cent for the 9-valent vaccine and 77.5 per cent for the 11-valent form of the vaccine. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Vaccine coverage for the identified serotypes for the 11-valent pneumococcal vaccine was better than the other two vaccines.

Purkyne Military Medical Academy Hradec Kralove Prague Czech Republic

Paediatric pneumococcal disease in Central Europe