VietNamNet Bridge – A new pneumococcal vaccine for children under two years old will be supplied for hospitals and healthcare facilities in Vietnam from the first quarter of next year, said William Hausdorff from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Vietnam Co. Ltd.

Illustrative image. – File photo

The representative of GSK Vietnam said at a seminar on Sunday that studies on the new vaccine had taken 15 years, undergone clinical trials in many countries and allowed for use in 120 countries around the world. This is the first pneumococcal vaccine effective in children less than two years old, he told the seminar on pneumococcal disease held by GSK Vietnam, the Vietnam Association of Preventive Medicine and the HCMC Preventive Medicine Center.

Truong Huu Khanh, head of the infection-nerve ward at Children’s Hospital 1 in HCMC, said Vietnam is one of 15 countries with the highest estimated number of cases of pneumonia in the world.

Previously, pneumococcal vaccine in Vietnam has just been used for children over two years old with a booster shot every three years due to no lasting effect, Khanh added.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that as many as half a million children under five years old died from pneumococcal disease. The infection can result in many life-threatening diseases such as bacterial meningitis, pneumonia, infection of blood (bacteremia), and sinusitis.

SGT/VNN