Changing epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal disease among White Mountain Apache persons in the...

Center for American Indian Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. BACKGROUND: Prior to the introduction of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7), the rate of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) was 8-fold higher among White Mountain Apache persons of all ages than it was among the general US population, . We aimed to assess the impact of PCV7 and 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine on the rate of IPD among White Mountain Apache persons. METHODS: From 1991 through 2006, we conducted active laboratory- and population-based surveillance among Native American residents of the White Mountain Apache reservation. Charts were reviewed and pneumococcal isolates were collected for serotype testing. Three time periods were defined: the pre-PCV7 baseline... [read full story]