Pediatria pre prax S3/2010

Trends in the occurrence of pneumococcal diseases – current view

The individual serotypes of the pneumococcus are individual „personalities“, i.e. sometimes disappearing and then reappearing again. This was the case also before the age of antibiotics and vaccination. Some serotypes can be part of the normal rhinopharynx-flora for a long time – and some just for a short period of time. Only a part of the known serotypes causes diseases and only a few of them cause invasive and life-threatening diseases. The increase of antibiotics-resistant serotypes is even supported by antibiotics treatments with an improperly indicated antibiotic and a specifically negative role plays the administration of azitromycine. An inevitable part of the nationwide vaccination with a conjugated pneumococcal vaccine shall be the surveillance of pneumococcus-serotypes.

Keywords: pneumococcal infections, pneumococcus serotype, state-carrier of the pneumococcus, pneumococcal vaccine.