New vaccines expected to protect pneumonia& diarrhoea in children

An investigation into the effectiveness of new vaccines that will help protect children from pneumonia and diarrhoea is underway; a press release from the University of Liverpool has revealed.
The study will be conducted in areas where morbidity is high and strains of rotavirus the bacterium that causes diarrhoea and pneumococcus the bacterium that causes pneumonia are diverse in Malawi.  

With a £2.3 million grant from the Wellcome Trust, scientists from Liverpool, London, Malawi, USA and Japan in collaboration with the Malawi Ministry of health, will monitor the impact of the vaccines as they are introduced in Malawi over the next five years. An assessment of whether conditions such as malnutrition and HIV, which are common in African children, could influence the success of the vaccination programme will also be done.

According to Dr Nigel Cunliffe, from the University’s Institute of Infection and Global Health, “early vaccination to prevent disease caused by rotavirus and Streptococcus pneumoniae is crucial in Africa, but we have limited evidence of how well these new vaccines will work in the world’s most impoverished countries when delivered as part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule. 
“Underlying medical conditions, the wide diversity of circulating strains in this region, and delayed immunisation may all adversely impact on vaccine performance.  It is vital that the effectiveness of vaccination is carefully assessed in order to optimise the tremendous benefit these vaccines will bring to the health of children in Africa.  Working in partnership with the Malawi Ministry of Health, this study will provide a framework for investigating other vaccine-preventable diseases across the country.”