Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine

Common card · No. 353698

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is a pneumococcal vaccine made with the conjugate vaccine method and used to protect infants, young children, and geriatrics against disease caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (the so-called "pneumococcus"). It contains purified capsular polysaccharide of pneumococcal serotypes conjugated to a carrier protein (CRM197) so as to improve antibody response compared to the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of the conjugate vaccine in routine immunizations given to children. Vaccine-mediated immunity is "conferred mainly by opsonophagocytic killing of S. pneumoniae." The most common side effects in children are decreased appetite, fever (only common in children aged six weeks to five years), irritability, reactions at the site of injection (reddening or hardening of the skin, swelling, pain or tenderness), somnolence (sleepiness) and poor quality sleep. In adults and the elderly, the most common...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Whispyhistory, CC BY-SA 4.0