The annual Investigator meeting for Nepal Pneumococcal Impact Assessment project, led by Prof Andy Pollard was held at Nagarkot, on the hills above the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal last week.
Stunning views of the Himalayas provided a dramatic backdrop to an exciting meeting where, with the local team, we were able to present our findings at the meeting to the Child Health Division of the Ministry of Health, The National Committee on Immunisation Practices and the local World Health Organisation officials.
In the preliminary analysis we showed early evidence that introduction of the vaccine in Nepal appears to be having an impact against colonisation with vaccine types of pneumococci both in the city, rural areas and in children with pneumonia.
In 2014 Nepal made the decision to give the pneumococcal vaccine at 6 + 10 weeks and 9 months instead of the WHO recommended schedule of 6+14 weeks and 9 months.
There was no evidence that immunogenicity under the new schedule would be as good as or worse than the recommended schedule. At the meeting the Nepalese health officials were delighted to learn that the results demonstrated that the chosen schedule, whilst not superior to the recommended schedule, does provide good levels of protection to children under the age of 12 months.
Find out more about the Nepal Pneumococcal Impact Assessment Project.
