Effect of Two Versus Three Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccinations

Two( 2) or three (3) instead of four vaccinations before the age of 6 months with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine are presumed to protect children against invasive pneumococcal disease like meningitis, at least on the short term till 18-24 months of age. The current hypothesis in this study is 2 or 3 vaccinations will protect against IPD but will not alter pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage in infants, and consequently not change pneumococcal transmission and induce no herd-immunity. Furthermore, antibody development and memory may benefit from carriage of vaccine type S. pneumoniae