Proportion of Invasive Pneumococcal Infections in German Children Preventable by Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines

Abstract
Different age groups were as follows: children aged !1 year, 18.9 (9.7 for meningitis); children aged !2 years, 16.0 (7.2 for meningitis); for children aged !5 years, 8.9 (3.9 for meningitis); and for children aged !16 years, 3.2 (1.4 for meningitis). The proportions of cases involving strains (304 serotyped) included in conjugate vaccines were as follows: for the 7-valent vaccine, 52%; for the 9-valent, 62%; and for the 11-valent, 71%. None of the isolates were resistant to penicillin or cefotaxime. Although the rate for meningitis is similar, other manifestations of IPD are less commonly diagnosed in Germany than in other countries. The serotype distrib- ution only partially matched that used in the recent development of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines.