Pneumococcal vaccine Pneumo-23, used for specific prophylaxis of
pneumonia and other
pneumococcal infections, was tested in military training units of the North Western, Central and Far Eastern Military Districts. The
vaccine used for immunization of servicemen, was shown to have high immunogenicity with no adverse reactions. In the training group of the North Western Military District the epidemiological effectiveness of the
vaccine was particularly high a month after immunization and amounted to 83.7%. During the period between month 2 and month 5 after immunization
pneumonia morbidity among the immunized servicemen was 6.12 times lower than among the non-immunized ones. In the training units of the Central and Far Eastern Military Districts, where the period of the formation of postvaccinal immunity coincided with the peak of the outbreak of
pneumonia, the protective properties of the used batches of the
vaccine could be observed as early as during the first month after immunization, which made it possible to recommend this
vaccine for urgent prophylaxis in the foci of
pneumococcal infection. During the period of 5 months the effectiveness of the
vaccine with respect to
pneumonia was 62.1-66.2% for all three districts. The effectiveness of the combined immunization of conscripts with
vaccines Pneumo-23 and
Vaxigrip with respect to
pneumonia was higher (78.54%) and the index of effectiveness (4.66) was 1.58 fold greater than in monoimmunization (2.95). The epidemiological effectiveness of the
pneumococcal vaccine was high also with respect to other
pneumococcal infections: acute
bronchitis, acute
respiratory diseases of pneumococcal etiology, cases of acute
sinusitis and acute
otitis. The use of the
vaccine for the immunization of servicemen yielded the economic effect equal to 92 US dollars per person.