In the context of an active nationwide surveillance network, this study describes pneumoccocal meningitis in children aged from 1 day to 15 years during a 8 year study period (2001-2008) in France. 951 pneumoccocal meningitis cases were reported among 3312 children with bacterial meningitis. T

This study assesses the incidence of IPD (2006–2009), the serotype distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates.

In Belgium, the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was introduced into the national schedule in 2007.

The heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) targets seven of the more than 92 pneumococcal serotypes. Concerns have been raised that non-vaccine serotypes (NVTs) could increase in prevalence and reduce the benefits of vaccination. Indeed, among asymptomatic carriers, the prevalence of NVTs has increased substantially, and consequently, there has been little or no net change in the bacterial carriage prevalence.

The evidence presented in the article strongly supports the notion that serotype replacement has occurred in invasive pneumococcal disease in most populations and is caused by the vaccine.

This study demonstrates that PCV13 is immunogenic and safe in children previously vaccinated with PCV7. By eliciting high antibacterial immune responses to the additional serotypes, PCV13 provides protection against these serotypes, which are important causes of pneumococcal disease globally.

The study compares the incidence and serotype distribution of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) for pneumococcal meningitis and non-meningitis IPD in children from 2007 to 2010 with reference to the pre-vaccination period from 1997 to 2001 in Germany.

​Antimicrobial stewardship policies are increasingly being implemented as a measure to prevent and control antimicrobial resistance.

The study design and analysis controlled for influence of potentially confounding trends, such as improvement of day-care carriage and decreasing prevalence of smoking during the study period.

​This is the main finding of a recent article based on data from The Streptococcus pneumoniae Invasive Disease network (SpIDnet).