What is a Pneumococcal vaccine?
Pneumococcal vaccines are vaccines against the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae. Their use can prevent some cases of pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis. There are two types of pneumococcal vaccines: conjugate vaccines and polysaccharide vaccines.
What is a Conjugate vaccine?
A conjugate vaccine is a type of vaccine which combines a weak antigen with a strong antigen as a carrier so that the immune system has a stronger response to the weak antigen.
Most vaccines contain a single antigen that the body will recognize. However, the antigen of some pathogens does not elicit a strong response from the immune system, so a vaccination against this weak antigen would not protect the person later in life. In this case, a conjugate vaccine is used in order to invoke an immune system response against the weak antigen.
In a conjugate vaccine, the weak antigen is covalently attached to a strong antigen, thereby eliciting a stronger immunological response to the weak antigen. Most commonly, the weak antigen is a polysaccharide that is attached to strong protein antigen.
What is a Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine?
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is a pneumococcal vaccine made with the conjugate vaccine method and used to protect infants, young children, and adults against disease caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus).
It contains purified capsular polysaccharide of pneumococcal serotypes conjugated to a carrier protein to improve antibody response compared to the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of the conjugate vaccine in routine immunizations given to children.
Pneumosil is the India’s first indigenously developed pneumococcal vaccine manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII).
What is a Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine?
Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine is a pneumococcal vaccine that is used for the prevention of pneumococcal disease caused by the 23 serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae contained in the vaccine as capsular polysaccharides.
The WHO does not recommend use of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in routine childhood immunization programs. It is approved for use in people 50 years of age or older and people aged two years of age or older who are at increased risk for pneumococcal disease. The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine is widely used in high-risk adults.
What are the most common side effects of Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine?
The most common side effects in children are decreased appetite, fever, irritability, reactions at the site of injection (reddening or hardening of the skin, swelling, pain or tenderness), somnolence (sleepiness) and poor quality sleep.
In adults and the elderly, the most common side effects are decreased appetite, headaches, diarrhea, fever , vomiting , rash, reactions at the site of injection, limitation of arm movement, arthralgia and myalgia (joint and muscle pain), chills and fatigue.
What are the most common side effects of Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine?
The most common adverse reactions are: pain, soreness or tenderness at the site of injection, injection-site swelling or temporary thickening or hardening of the skin, headache, injection-site redness, weakness and fatigue, and muscle pain.
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PRACTICE QUESTIONS
QUES . What is the importance of using Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines in India? UPSC 2020
1 . These vaccines are effective against pneumonia as well as meningitis and sepsis.
2 . Dependence on antibiotics that are not effective against drug resistant bacteria can be reduced.
3 . These vaccines have no side effects and cause no allergic reactions.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans (b) EXPLANATION: Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines are effective against pneumonia as well as meningitis and sepsis. Hence statement 1 is correct. While vaccines are not intended to replace antibiotics, they can contribute to reduce AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance or drug resistance) by preventing (resistant) bacterial diseases and their transmission, and by reducing antibiotic use and misuse. PCVs for pneumococcos can potentially reduce the dependence on antibiotics by nearly 50 fifty percent per year. Hence statement 2 is correct. Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines can have side effects ranging from fever, loss of appetite to headache, fussiness. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
