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Prevnar: Children
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Prevnar's effectiveness is not in question, says Davis: It prevents infections by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria that cause tens of thousands of potentially deadly bacterial meningitis and bloodstream infections each year, and untold millions of painful ear infections. That's why parents have clamored to get kids vaccinated with Prevnar since its approval in the year 2000. New CDC data show that despite major shortages, 41 percent of children under age 3 had at least three doses of it by 2002.
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Prevnar is a new vaccine that protects against infection from pneumococcus bacteria. This bacteria causes serious infections in adults and children, including pneumonia, blood infections, and meningitis. It is ... the number one cause of sinusitis and ear infections.
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Prevnar targets the seven most common strains of pneumococcus, which account for four out of five cases of invasive disease in infants. The vaccine prevents more than 90 percent of serious pneumococcal infections in children under 2 years of age. Each year, pneumococcal bacteria cause an estimated 17,000 cases of invasive disease in U.S. children under age 5. About 1,400 others suffer meningitis. Children under age 2 are at highest risk for meningitis, which damages the brain and hearing about one-third of the time and kills one out of eight victims. About 30 percent of pneumonias (71,000 cases reported annually in the United States) in children ... are caused by pneumococcus.
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Prevnar vaccine helps to protect infants and children from serious pneumococcal diseases. It is the only pneumococcal vaccine that can be used for immunization of infants from six weeks to two years of age. This vaccine provides protection in 97% of children vaccinated against invasive pneumococcal infections.
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[One] pneumonia vaccine has long been available for adults but it doesn't work in children, so Prevnar was hailed as a breakthrough. It is used in dozens of countries and had sales of more than $1.5 billion last year. In the United States, it is given as four shots between 2 months and 15 months.
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When Prevnar® was endorsed and licensed in the United States in 2000 only one efficacy trial had been done according to the American Academy of Pediatrics Technical Report. The research reported by Black, Shinefield et al in “Efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in children” [ Pediatric Infect Dis J 2000; 19:187-195] was funded at least in part by the vaccine manufacturer.
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