Govt considers pneumonia vaccine

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has taken the initial step toward introducing the Haemophilus influenzae serotype B (Hib) vaccine to fight pneumonia and meningitis among infants under 24 months, an official said on Thursday.

A study conducted by the Ministry of Health in Lombok between 1997 and 2003 revealed that the vaccine lowered the pneumonia Hib rate by 3 percent, meningitis Hib by 86 percent, and clinical meningitis by 22 percent.

Although pneumonia Hib and meningitis Hib cases in Asia remain far lower than in the United States, Europe, and Africa, Ministry of Health expert advisor Anhari Achadi said Hib cases should not be underestimated.

"The question is whether Hib cases in Asia are really low or is it because we simply have no data on Hib cases due to insufficient medical diagnosis?" he said.

He warned that Hib could be a big problem in the future if no action was taken to prevent it.

While pneumonia affects the lungs, meningitis can lead to deafness, paralysis and mental retardation. The two diseases can cause death.

Conducted on the West Nusa Tenggara island of Lombok, the government study took a random sample of 55,000 infants aged between two weeks and 24 months, and divided them into two groups of 25,000. One group received the diphtheria (DPT) vaccine only, while another got DPT plus the Hib vaccine.

Anhari said that the study was conducted in Lombok because the island had a high infant mortality rate.

In Lombok, the number of infants with pneumonia Hib is estimated at 884 out of 100,000 per year, the number of meningitis Hib cases at 156 out 100,000 and the number of clinical Meningitis cases at 697 out of 100,000.

Anhari said Lombok also had good infrastructure that enabled people to travel around easily. The island also had sufficient laboratory facilities and the local government was committed to support the study.

The study was funded by the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), and was conducted by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the Association pour l'Aide a la Medicine Preventive (AMP) France and PATH USA.

It may take a long time before the Hib vaccine is given to infants under a national immunization program, Anhari said.

"We need to conduct a study on cost effectiveness and take more samples so that we know whether or not the Hib vaccine is effective," Anhari said.