Valuable researchers have conducted a groundbreaking three-arm, open-label, cluster-randomised trial in Niger to evaluate the effectiveness of mass campaigns using full and fractional doses of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Pneumosil, PCV10) in reducing nasopharyngeal pneumococcal carriage among children aged 1–9 years.
The study involved 63 clusters, randomly assigned to receive either a full dose, a one-fifth fractional dose, or no vaccination campaign. The findings are significant: post-vaccination, vaccine-type pneumococcal carriage dropped to 4.6% in the full-dose group, 8.0% in the fractional-dose group, and remained higher at 16.5% in the control group. The results demonstrated a marked reduction in carriage with full-dose campaigns, while fractional doses also met non-inferiority criteria compared to full doses, offering a cost-effective alternative.
This study highlights the potential of multi-age cohort campaigns, even with fractional dosing, to enhance population immunity in low-coverage settings and during humanitarian emergencies. Importantly, no adverse events related to the vaccine were reported, reinforcing its safety profile.
Read the full study to explore these impactful findings.
