Lowering age for preventive vaccine could save lives, money, study says.

2003 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vaccinating everyone 50 or older against a bug that can cause pneumonia, meningitis, or a blood infection would save lives and money, a new study suggests.

Current guidelines call for vaccinating those 65 and up.

"Our calculations find it's something that's likely, particularly for those in high-risk groups, to improve health and save medical costs," said Jane E. Sisk, professor of health policy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and lead author of a study in the June 17, 2003, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Sisk stressed that researchers were not recommending that the age be lowered, but that their goal was to provide data to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The committee's recommendations are usually adopted by the CDC, and most doctors generally follow CDC guidelines.

Each year in the United States, pneumococcal disease accounts for about 3,300 cases of meningitis, or infection in the brain and spinal cord; 60,000 cases of bacteremia, a blood infection; and 500,000 cases of pneumonia.

Current CDC recommendations say a one-time pneumococcal vaccine should be given to people 65 and older, or to people of any age with certain medical conditions that put them at higher risk for getting the disease - including heart disease, diabetes, and pulmonary disease.

An accompanying editorial in the journal, by Dr. Pierce Gardner of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, said that the study "provides strong impetus for lowering the recommended age for ...