Along with rolling out the pentavalent (five-in-one) vaccine to check pneumonia as planned, the union health ministry will launch an impact study in one high mortality state before deciding on introducing pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) as part of the national immunization programme.

The National Technical Advisory Group, India (NTAGI), the highest body to advise the government on introducing any vaccine, had recommended for an impact study on the 7-valent pneumococcal vaccine (PCV 7) in one state as early as possible. The government, which is yet to finalise the state for the study, will take a decision on introducing PCV based on the outcome of the study, sources said.

Taking into consideration the existing data and prevalence of pneumonia among the children, the NTAGI had recommended the national roll out of Hib vaccine by 2012 as a multi-dose liquid pentavalent vaccine (DPT-Hep B-Hib) and the government is going ahead with the plan to introduce the same in 10 states next year.

Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) is one of the two bacteria causing pneumonia and meningitis. The experts in the field have called for the introduction of PCV as the follow-up to this Hib as it immunizes children against pneumonia and other diseases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae.

The Indian Association of Paediatrics: Committee on Immunization (IAP COI) has recommended for inclusion of pneumococcal vaccines in the routine immunization schedule, considering the high mortality caused by this disease in children in the country. The IAP COI has suggested the following schedule for immunization of children with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine: three doses to be given at six,10,14 weeks and one booster at 15 to 18 months of age, sources said.

As per the recent WHO report, India accounts for the maximum 43 million new cases out of 156 million new pneumonia cases reported every year globally. A substantial proportion of these deaths are due to pneumococcal pneumonia. Studies have shown that up to 19 per cent of children hospitalized with pneumonia die in India. Another consideration is the rising resistance to commonly used antibiotics worldwide associated with increasing rates of treatment failures. Hence, prevention of pneumonia through immunization is an effective way to decrease the incidence and prevent mortality and morbidity in children. PCV is currently being used in the national immunization programmes of over 25 industrialized countries, according to the WHO.