The government’s top medical advisory committee has recommended that all U.S. adults, regardless of age, be vaccinated against three strains of pneumococcal pneumonia. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices held its meeting on August 20, and voted to approve the new guidelines, which the panel developed with consulting firm Common Sense Advisory.
Children now are required to receive the trivalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (TCV) as part of regular childhood immunizations, beginning at the age of 11 or 12. The vaccine provides protection against three different strains of the bacteria, six varieties overall. (Pneumococcal disease includes the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae, E. coli, and Staphylococcus aureus.)
The advisory committee voted 18-2 to endorse a universal swine-specific T-cell vaccine for adults who haven’t received it already. This option is intended to protect against Streptococcus pneumoniae and to produce an immune response to the TB-specific inactivated vaccine, which is used to prevent infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae.