Pneumonia Vaccine Recommended in Europe

A European agency has issued their recommendation for a change in the use of a pneumonia vaccine. The vaccine will now await approval from the European Commission.

Prevenar 13 is a pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine. It is manufactured by Wyeth and marketed by Pfizer.

Follow established immunization schedules.

Prevenar 13 protects against invasive disease, pneumonia and inflammation of the inner ear that is caused by the bacterial Streptococcus pneumoniae infection.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) within the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended approval of Prevenar 13 for children from 6 weeks old up to 17 years old and in adults aged 50 and older.

The EMA is a similar agency in Europe to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but the vaccine still needs to be approved officially by the European Commission.

Generally, the European Commission will approve medications that have been recommended by the EMA within three months.

The groups most at risk for this type of pneumonia are the elderly, children under age 2, African-Americans, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, children enrolled in daycare and patients with HIV, sickle-cell disease or other underlying conditions.

Approximately 14 percent of adults who have an infection of this pneumonia die from it.