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.
Findings in this study confirmed the herd immunity effect of immunizing young children, since invasive meningococcal disease was not only reduced among vaccinees, but in all age groups.
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.
4CMenB has the potential to reduce serogroup B meningococcal disease substantially. Despite its potential, the vaccine may have some limitations, and it remains to be seen if booster doses will be required to sustain protection.
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.