Respiratory diseases in children after the administration of 10: valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine

Abstract

Infancy is characterized by a series of changes. Physiologic maturation of the respiratory system as well as internal and external factors makes children under two years of age more susceptible to respiratory diseases. The objective of this study was to identify the occurrence of respiratory diseases after the administration of pneumococcal 10-valent conjugate vaccine in that age group and compare results with clinical and socio-demographic variables. The research was conducted with 90 children that had received at least three dosages of vaccine at Basic Health Units in the city of Imperatriz. Quantitative variables were expressed as frequency and percentage. To test the normality of the variables, the researchers used the chi-square test. The majority of the children aged over 1 year (52.2%); 71.1% were termed by parents/legal guardians as being of a light-brown complexion; family income of 70.0% of the participants was above the minimum wage; legal guardians' schooling ranged from eight to twelve years of education (62.2%); 61.1% of the children lived with smokers; 63.3% had no history of hospitalization. Regarding the occurrence of disease after vaccination, 32.3% developed some respiratory disease (pneumonia, meningitis, otitis media and pharyngitis). The results revealed that the later the vaccination, the lower the vaccine effectiveness. The study results indicate the need to analyse economic, demographic and nutritional aspects that might predispose to respiratory diseases, not only associate the diseases to the effectiveness, duration or age of administration of the pneumococcal 10-valent conjugate vaccine.