Serotype 1, a life threatening strain of pneumonia, is on the rise in children figures suggest. Data presented at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Conference suggest it could affects up to 1,000 children a year in the UK and this figure is set to increase in the future. The rise of the strain may be caused by the current vaccination programme in infants which does not include protection against the serotype 1 strain.
‘There is a worldwide concern about the rise of new strains of pneumonia, including some, like the serotype 1 strain, which are resistant to antibiotics and are currently not protected against in current vaccination programmes,’ said Professor Warren Lenny, spokesperson for the British Lung Foundation ‘Complications that arise from the infection can be life threatening and children are particularly vulnerable. The British Lung Foundation is funding research into better vaccinations for pneumonia and other chest infections as part of a worldwide research effort to address this problem.’
Children are given the pneumococcal vaccine at two and four months with a booster at 13 months which is very successful at protecting against pneumonia though new antibiotic strains are emerging to replace those which are being eradicated by the vaccination programme. A nationwide study is currently being undertaken to understand why stereotype 1 is becoming more virulent and to research more effective vaccinations which will protect against all strains of pneumonia.
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