Pneumococcal diseases are a major public health problem all over the world. Infections caused by pneumococci are a major cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world. Pneumonia, febrile bacteraemia and meningitis are the most common manifestations of invasive pneumococcal disease, whereas bacterial spread within the respiratory tract may result in middle-ear infection, sinusitis or recurrent bronchitis. Based on available data, acute respiratory infections kill an estimated 2.6 million children under five years of age annually. The pneumococcus causes over 1 million of these deaths, most of which occur in developing countries, where the pneumococcus is probably the most important pathogen of early infancy. (http://www.who.int/vaccines/en/pneumococcus.shtml)

 

Currently no local producer has the license to supply this vaccine.