| ■ FDA Approves Updated Prevnar Vaccine | 2010.02.26 |
| An updated version of the children's vaccine Prevnar has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The new Prevnar 13 vaccine is designed to protect children 5 years old and younger against 13 varieties of pneumococcal disease that can cause pneumonia, ear infections and meningitis. The current Prevnar vaccine protects against seven varieties of pneumococcal disease, the Associated Press reported. The FDA was scheduled to make a decision on Prevnar 13 last fall but extended its review of the updated version of the vaccine twice since then. After the original Prevnar vaccine was approved in 2000, the incidence of pneumococcal disease infections decreased dramatically. But the number of infections began to rise again in 2005 as new varieties of the disease began to appear, the AP reported. |