Background: Increasing resistance to antibiotics of the pathogens causing acute otitis media (AOM) emphasize the need for effective methods to prevent episodes of otitis media in young children.
Objective: To assess the effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccination for prevention of AOM in children age 12 years and younger.
Methods: Systematic review of 11 randomized controlled trials including 46 074 children in whom pneumococcal vaccination against AOM was compared with a control treatment. Vaccine effect was estimated as a rate ratio (RR): AOM episodes per child month in pneumococcal vaccination group divided by the AOM episodes per child-month in control group.
Results: A moderate effect of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination was found in children 24 months of age and older [RR 0.78; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63 to 0.97]. Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine had little effect on prevention of AOM in children without previous documented episodes before vaccination (RR 0.92; 95% CI 0.85 to 0.99). Better efficacy was seen in those children with documented prior AOM before vaccination (RR 0.81; 95% CI 0.72 to 0.91). Pooled results of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine trials in infants vaccinated as early as 2 months of age and in toddlers attending day care showed only a small effect on prevention of AOM (RR 0.92; 95% CI 0.85 to 0.99).
Conclusion: Based on these results, a large scale pneumococcal vaccination program for a primary indication of preventing AOM in infancy is not indicated. The results of ongoing trials should provide more information whether the conjugate vaccine is effective in high risk (otitis-prone) children after 1 year of age.