Pan-India study on pneumococcal disease in tiny tots released

A study to help identify the bacteria responsible for pneumococcal disease among children aged under five was released here on Tuesday. The pan-India study is also believed to throw light on antibiotic resistance. The pneumococcal disease causes pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections, meningitis, bacteremia, etc.

The study was unveiled by Dr K L Ravi Kumar, Professor Emeritus, Microbiology, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bengaluru. The ‘Pan India Distribution of Pneumococcal Serotypes Study’ (PIDOPS Study) was conducted at seven institutional centres in Bengaluru, Chennai, Jodhpur, Ludhiana, Delhi, Kolkata and Kanpur for two years (July 2013-August 2015) and 51 sentinel centres, taking the total to 58 centres.

Addressing a press conference here, Dr Kumar said, “India’s past and existing pneumococcal surveillance studies are limited, of short duration and unevenly distributed. With India’s increasing population, diverse genetic pool and antibiotic overuse, pneumococci are also evolving and becoming antibiotic-resistant. It is important to find the pneumococcal serotypes responsible for pneumonia infections and understand their antibiotic resistance levels. We aimed at solving these concerns by initiating the PIDOPS Study.”

The study found that Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 13 (PCV 13) provided 81 per cent protection cover from pneumonia, which was eight per cent more than the closest effective pneumonia vaccine.

For the PIDOPS study, 1,504 samples were collected over two years from children with Invasive Pneumococcal disease and pioneered ‘PCRSeqTyping’, a molecular technology along with the traditional technique. ‘PCRSeqTyping’ helped identify pneumococcal infection in 30 per cent of samples compared to seven per cent with the traditional method.

“Antibiotic resistance to Penicillin and Co-trimoxazole was observed in 13 per cent and 70 per cent respectively. The matter of concern was the presence of multiple drug resistance in 32 per cent of isolates.

Serotypes 3, 6A and 19A which accounted for eight per cent of the infection was covered only by the PCV 13 vaccine. The vaccine coverage was found to be 81 per cent for the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 13 (PCV13),” Dr Kumar added.

The second phase of the PIDOPS Study will be conducted in 165 centres (15 institutional and 150 sentinel) in the country for a two-year duration starting December 2015, doctors said.