Asian Scientist (Oct. 9, 2013) – Laos has become the first South East Asian nation to introduce a pneumococcal vaccine, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency.
The vaccine protects against pneumococcal infections, which mostly strike children under age 5 and can lead to some of the worst childhood diseases, like meningitis.
Globally, pneumococcal disease kills half a million children under the age of five each year. In Laos, pneumonia accounts for 19 percent of the country’s under-five child mortality, or approximately 2,800 children annually. It is hoped that the vaccine could prevent a significant proportion of these deaths.
According to Xinhua, about 180,000 infants in Laos will receive the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) over the next year.
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Source: Xinhua; Photo: paularps/Flickr/CC.
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