Thousands of North deaths blamed on pollution

Apr 15 2008 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

Up to 1,000 children a year hit by pneumonia bug

A POTENTIALLY fatal strain of pneumonia affecting children which is not covered by vaccines is increasing across the country, Dr Spencer warned yesterday.

Up to 1,000 children are affected by the bug each year, according to his research.

This type of pneumonia, known as serotype 1, infects the lining of the lungs in children, causes breathing difficulties and requires hospital treatment.

An immunisation programme for all babies has been running for 18 months and has dramatically reduced the overall number of cases of pneumonia, but it does not protect against the serotype 1 strain. Dr Spencer said cases of this serotype have also increased markedly in America, leading to fears the vaccine itself might be contributing to the problem.

"The pneumonia bug lives in peace with us for most of the time but it does not like a vacuum. If you take away one of the types of serotype by vaccination, then another takes its place. This has happened in some parts of the US but it is difficult to prove and compared to the overall benefit and reduction to disease, it is small fry."

Dr Spencer said the vaccine, Prevenar, was introduced in the US about seven years ago and resulted in a 40% drop in the total number of cases of pneumonia in infants and children.

It was introduced in the UK in 2006 and also resulted in a significant drop in pneumonia and meningitis in children.

The pneumococcal vaccine given to infants at two and four months with a booster dose at 13 months of age protects against seven types of Streptococcus pneumoniae. But there are 90 different serotypes that cause pneumonia. Dr Spencer said the number of cases of serotype 1 pneumonia has increased exponentially for about 15 years.