Schedule of vaccination
As with all immunizations, whether it is available or required, and under what circumstances, varies according to the decisions made by local public health agencies. Children under the age of two years fail to mount an adequate response to the 23-valent adult vaccine, and so a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is used. While this covers only seven strains out of more than ninety strains, these seven strains cause 80% to 90% of cases of severe pneumococcal disease, and it is considered to be nearly 100% effective against these strains. United Kingdom
The UK childhood vaccination schedule for infants born after 31 December 2019, consists of a primary course of one dose at twelve weeks of age with a second dose at one year of age. For infants born before 1 January 2020 and those in Scotland, the childhood vaccination schedule consists of a primary course of two doses at eight and sixteen weeks of age with a final third dose at one year of age.Children at special risk (e.g., sickle cell disease and asplenia) require as full protection as can be achieved using the conjugated vaccine, with the more extensive polysaccharide vaccine given after the second year of life:

United States
In 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), upon advice from its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), recommended the vaccine be administered to every infant and young child in the United States. The resulting demand outstripped production, creating shortages not resolved until 2004.
Out of the approximately 600,000 neonates annually treated in NICUs in the United States, 48,000 may be diagnosed as neutropenic. The incidence of neutropenia is greater in premature infants. Six to fifty-eight percent of preterm neonates are diagnosed with this auto-immune disease. The incidence of neutropenia correlates with decreasing birth weight. The disorder is seen up to 38% in infants that weigh less than 1000g, 13% in infants weighing less than 2500g, and 3% of term infants weighing more than 2500 g. Neutropenia is often temporary, affecting most newborns in only first few days after birth. In others, it becomes more severe and chronic indicating a deficiency in innate immunity.Furthermore, the prevalence of chronic neutropenia in the general public is rare. In a study conducted in Denmark, over 370,000 people were assessed for the presence of neutropenia. Results published demonstrated only 1% of those evaluated were neutropenic, and were commonly seen in those with HIV, viral infections, acute leukemias, and myelodysplastic syndromes. The study concluded the presence of neutropenia is an ominous sign that warrants further investigation and follow-up. See also
Pancytopenia
Thrombocytopenia

References


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