Researchers found a correlation between the 7-valent and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) and reduction in Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteremia, reports Physician’s Briefing. 

Tara L. Greenhow, M.D., from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in San Francisco, and colleagues conducted a retrospective review of the electronic medical records of all blood cultures collected for children aged 3 to 36 months at Kaiser Permanente Northern California. A total of 57,733 blood cultures were collected from Sept. 1, 1998, to Aug. 31, 2014, in outpatient clinics, emergency departments, and in the first 24 hours of hospitalization.

The researchers observed a 95.3 percent reduction of Streptococcus pneumoniaebacteremia after implementation of routine immunization with the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, from 74.5 to 10 to 3.5 per 100,000 children per year by the post-PCV13 period. Escherichia coliSalmonella spp, and Staphylococcus aureus caused 77 percent of bacteremia as pneumococcal rates decreased. In the post-PCV13 period, 76 percent of all bacteremia occurred with a source.

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