[Conjugate pneumococcal vaccines and influence on the ear, nose and throat area]. / Konjuge pnömokok asilari ve kulak burun bogaz alanindaki etkileri.

The importance of anti-pneumococcal vaccines has increased due to the gradually increasing incidence rate of pneumococcal infections and their antibiotic resistance. Conjugate pneumococcal vaccine began to be used routinely in the USA in 2000. An important property of this conjugate vaccine is the ability to create immunity in infants after two months. Thus, conjugate vaccines allow us to protect children below the age of two years against to invasive and mortal pneumococcal infections. The first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) contains the seven most common pneumococcal serotypes in the USA. Pneumococci are also the most important bacterial agents in acute otitis media (AOM) and recurrent acute otitis media. Acute otitis media is the most common infectious disease in childhood and resistance to treatment has rapidly increased over the last decade. The incidence of AOM and applications of tympanostomy tubes saw statistically significant decreases in the USA after implementation of PCV7 in national immunization programs. PCV7 was implemented in the national immunization program in Turkey in 2008. For this reason, reductions in the incidence of upper respiratory tract infectious diseases and especially AOM should be expected in our country.