Support for more child vaccination

Pneumococcal disease can cause of one of the most dangerous forms of meningitis.

Pneumococcal Disease
50 children under five in the UK die each year as a result of pneumococcal diseases, such as meningitis, bacteraemia, and pneumonia
Hundreds more are left with severe, long-term disability
One in six children who survive pneumococcal meningitis will suffer brain damage, one out of every seven will develop epilepsy and around a quarter will become deaf

Researchers found 92% of parents who responded to the survey were firmly in favour of the Department of Health adding pneumococcal vaccination to the current childhood immunisation schedule - the programme of vaccines that infants routinely receive.

The survey, of 500 parents, was commissioned by the RAPPID (Raising Awareness of Paediatric Pneumococcal Infection & Disease) campaign.

The government already advises doctors to immunise certain "at-risk" children against pneumococcal disease.

These include children with chronic heart, lung, liver or kidney disease, diabetes, dysfunction of the spleen and other causes of immunodeficiency, such as HIV.

But it is still to make a decision on whether to offer routine vaccination to all infants and children between the ages of 2 months and 2 years.

Fifty infants and children under five die each year from pneumococcal diseases and many more are left with permanent disabilities as a result of the infection.

Backing

The campaign is backed by Scottish Labour MP Sandra Osborne.

She said: "I am concerned that the government wants to shy away from introducing this vaccine until the MMR dust has settled.

"It is therefore helpful for Ministers to see the groundswell of support that exists for vaccines that prevent killer diseases such as those caused by pneumococcal infection".

Pneumococcal meningitis is the UK's second most common form of bacterial meningitis - and one of the most deadly.

Often referred to as the 'Invisible Meningitis', it can be extremely difficult to diagnose.

In particular, it seldom shares the 'tell-tale' rash associated with other forms of meningitis, such as meningitis B or C.

False all-clear

Research by a team from Amsterdam University suggests that even people who appear to have come through an attack of bacterial meningitis unscathed may be at risk of long-term mental health problems.

They carried out extensive examinations on 26 patients who had developed pneumococcal meningitis, and 25 who had developed the meningococcal form of the disease.

All had been assessed as making a good recovery, with only minor neurological problems such as slight hearing loss.

The further tests revealed that seven of the pneumococcal meningitis patients had disorders that slowed their mental function and potentially damaged their quality of life.