Introduction of the PCV-7 vaccine to prevent invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) has led to a shift in the types of bacteria causing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)—an important cause of acute kidney failure in children, reports a study in the August issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.
Very rare a decade ago, HUS related to Streptococcus pneumonia bacteria (SP-HUS) now occurs in more than five percent of children with IPD. When SP-HUS does develop, it is generally caused by bacterial strains not covered by the PCV-7 vaccine, according to the new study.
Vaccine Has Led to Changing Patterns of HUS
Led by Dr Jeffrey M. Bender of University of Utah, Salt Lake City, the researchers reviewed separate databases of children treated for HUS and IPD in Utah. Hemolytic uremic syndrome is a disease causing destruction of red blood cells that can lead to sudden (acute) kidney failure. Although it most commonly occurs as a reaction to childhood infections (such as with E. coli bacteria) causing diarrhea, HUS can result from other infections as well. Invasive pneumococcal disease refers to serious infections—such as pneumonia, bloodstream infection, or meningitis—caused by SP bacteria.
Of 460 children with HUS identified from 1971 to 2008, only 1.5% had HUS caused by SP. Similarly, of 435 children with IPD between 1997 and 2008, only 1.6% developed HUS.
However, the percentage of HUS cases caused by SP increased significantly after 2000—the year that vaccination with PCV-7 was introduced. Before 2000, only 0.3% of children with IPD developed HUS. After 2000, that figure jumped to 5.6%.
Source: Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
