Pneumococcal Vaccinations Can Reduce Antibiotic Prescribing

A new study published by the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases today found 'antibiotic prescribing for children declined following implementing a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) program in Israel.

A reduction in respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in Israeli children was observed, but the impact on antibiotic prescribing had not been quantified.

These researchers analyzed dispensed antibiotic prescription (DAP) rates for about 1 million Israeli children under the age of 5 from July 2005 through June 2018. 

Overall reduction (and 95% CIs) in DAP rates per 1,000 was estimated between aIRR value (344.7 [370.9-358.4]) and rIRR value (110.4 [96.9-123.7]).

This was largely driven by the decrease in amoxicillin/amoxicillin-clavulanate (75% of DAPs).

During the study, the 7-valent vaccine was introduced into Israel's National Immunization Plan in 2009, and the 13-valent vaccine (PCV13) was replaced in 2010.

Vaccines help prevent pneumococcal disease, an illness caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, says the U.S. CDC. There are two kinds of pneumococcal vaccines available in the USA: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) and Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23).

Additional CDC vaccine information is found on this webpage.