How is pneumococcal disease treated/cured?

Pneumococcal disease is treated with antibiotics. Over the last decade, many pneumococci have become resistant to some of the antibiotics used to treat pneumococcal infections; high levels of resistance to penicillin are common.

Can pneumococcal disease in children be prevented?

in late 2000, the FDA licensed a new vaccine for the prevention of pneumococcal disease in children. The new pneumococcal vaccine, Prevnar® (manufactured by Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines), is a vaccine in which the serotypes are conjugated (or linked) to a protein. This new pneumococcal conjugate vaccine has been shown to be highly effective in preventing invasive pneumococcal disease (such as in young children. In a study of the new vaccine among 37,000 infants in California, the vaccine was over 90% effective in preventing invasive disease among the children studied. The children who received the new vaccine also had 7% fewer episodes of otitis media and a 20% decrease in the number of tympanostomy tubes (ear tubes) placed. The vaccine was also shown to decrease the number of episodes of pneumonia. 

CDC conducted a study soon after a vaccine was licensed and found that the vaccine was highly effective in preventing disease in children under 5 years of age. The investigators found that the vaccine was 96% effective against pneumococcal disease in healthy children who received one dose or more and 81% effective in children with medical conditions that put them at risk of pneumococcal disease. The vaccine was also highly effective at preventing pneumococcal disease caused by antibiotic-resistant strains.

Prevnar® is indicated for use in infants and toddlers. The vaccine should be given to all infants younger than 24 months of age at 2, 4, and 6 months of age, followed by a booster dose at 12-15 months of age. Children who are unvaccinated and are 7 to 11 months of age should be given a total of 3 doses (2 months apart) and children age 12 to 23 months should be given a total of 2 doses at least two months apart. Most children who are 24 months of age or older only need one dose of the vaccine.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) also recommends the new pneumococcal childhood vaccine be given to children age 24 to 59 months at highest risk of infection, including those with certain illness (sickle cell anemia, HIV infection, chronic lung or heart disease). Vaccine should be considered for all children aged 24-35 months and other children through 59 months of age with a priority for those at higher risk which includes Alaska Natives, American Indians, or African Americans and those children who attend out-of-home day day care for more than 4 hours per week.

The recently licensed pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Prevnar®, is the first pneumococcal vaccine that can be used in children under the age of 2 years. However, pneumococcal vaccines for the prevention of disease among children and adults who are 2 years and older have been in use since 1977. Pneumovax® and Pnu-Immune® are 23-valent polysaccharide vaccines that are currently recommended for use in all adults who are older than 65 years of age and for persons who are 2 years and older and at high risk for disease such as persons with sickle cell disease, HIV infection, or other immunocompromising condition.

Campaigns for judicious use of antibiotics may also slow or reverse emerging drug resistance found among pneumococcal infection.