Review on immunogenicity, safety and efficacy of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine administered at 6 weeks of age in infants

Pneumococcal disease is one of serious global public health problems and poses a serious health threat and a heavy financial burden for children and adults worldwide; while early vaccination can effectively reduce the morbidity and mortality of pneumococcal disease. In 2010, a 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) was licensed in the United States of America. At present, PCV13 is the polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccine which covers the most widely pneumococcal serotypes and could be used to immunize for children less than 2 years of age. According to the recommendation of World Health Organization, vaccination of PCV13 can be initiated as early as 6 weeks of age. In China, vaccination initiated from 6 weeks to 6 months is approved. This article summarized the researches involving to the immunogenicity, safety and efficacy of PCV13 when used to immunize infants at 6 weeks of age. The published studies shows that active vaccination with PCV13 initiated at 6 weeks of age can induce good immune response in infants and exhibits an acceptable safety profile. Moreover, the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease, the pneumococcal colonization, and the pneumococcal resistance for antibiotics are all decreased significantly when PCV13 is immunized in infants initiated at 6 weeks of age. In addition, the indirect protective effect is also presented for entire population, including those not targeted for vaccination.