Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals
The Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals department is responsible for targeting vaccine-preventable diseases, guiding immunization research and establishing immunization policy.
Pneumonia
Out of over 90 serotypes, only a small minority cause most disease. There are 3 available pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) that target either 10 or 13 of the most prevalent serotypes.
Currently available PCVs are safe and efficacious. WHO recommends the inclusion of PCVs in childhood immunization programmes worldwide. In particular, countries with high childhood mortality (i.e. under 5 mortality rate of >50 deaths/1000 births) should make the introduction of these multicomponent PCVs a high priority.
In many countries, the routine use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines has dramatically reduced the incidence of serious diseases due to the organism with virtual disappearance of disease due to serotypes of the organism in the vaccines used.
This concept note, on pneumococcal vaccination in older adults, is a departure from a traditional position paper. This is because, while data were...
Addendum to Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in infants and children under 5 years of age: WHO position paper – February 2019.The current WHO...
22 February 2019
WHO position paper: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in infants and children under 5 years of age
Pneumococcal infections can lead to serious invasive diseases such as meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia, as well as milder but more common illnesses...
Pneumococcal Vaccine Introduction Resources
This document summarizes current technical and programmatic information on WHO prequalified PCV products to facilitate informed country choices for PCV...
Training materials