Vaccines for pneumonia and new antiviral therapies

Pneumonia and influenza are major causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, while not optimal, can reduce infection rates and mortality from pneumococcal disease in people with an intact immune system. The new pneumococcal conjugated vaccine for children, when universally applied, promises to reduce significantly the incidence of acute otitis media and meningitis in children. The inactivated influenza vaccine repeatedly has been shown to reduce significantly morbidity in healthy children and young adults and mortality in the elderly. In fact, influenza vaccine reduces all-cause mortality in the elderly but one quarter to one third. A new live, attentuated intranasal influenza vaccine has proven efficacious in children. Although the older antimembrane antiinfluenza drugs, amantadine and rimantadine, were not widely used, the newer, broader spectrum antineuraminidase drugs, zanamivir and oseltamivir, may prove to be more effective.