Succesful trial of Synflorix vaccine (Glaxo Smith Kline) to protect infants against Pneumococcal Disease

New results of a study suggest that a series of three or four shots of Synflorix PCV10 vaccine, from Glaxo Smith Kline, which includes three additional pneumococcal strains, should prevent over 70% of severe Pneumococcal Disease cases in children worldwide. The FinIP trial is the first European randomised study and included nearly 46 000 children younger than 19 months, randomised to receive two to four doses of Synflorix (according to age) or hepatitis A or B vaccine as control. The researchers tracked Synflorix's effectiveness over a mean 2-year period using the National Infectious Diseases Register. They found that Synflorix prevented 93% of cases of IPD in healthy infants who received at least one dose.

Only one disease episode due to a serotype contained in the vaccine was detected shortly after the first vaccine dose compared with 12 in the control group. This translates to vaccine effectiveness of 92% against vaccine-type IPD for the three-dose (2+1) schedule and 100% for the four-dose (3 +1) schedule. No safety concerns were noted during the study. Results have been published in The Lancet. See: "Effectiveness of the ten-valent pneumococcal Haemophilus influenzae protein D conjugate vaccine (PHiD-CV10) against invasive pneumococcal disease: a cluster randomised trial" Arto A Palmu et al. The Lancet, November 16, 2012 DOI: /10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61854-6