Effectiveness of influenza vaccination of children with recurrent respiratory tract infections in reducing respiratory-related morbidity within the households.

To evaluate the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in reducing respiratory-related morbidity among children with recurrent respiratory tract infections (RRTIs) and their household contacts, 127 children aged 6 months-9 years (78 males; median age, 3.7 years) with a history of RRTIs (>/=6 episodes per year if aged >/=3 years; >/=8 episodes per year if aged <3 years) were randomized to receive the intranasal virosomal influenza vaccine (n=64 with 176 household contacts) or a control placebo (n=63 with 173 household contacts). During influenza season, the vaccinated children had fewer respiratory infections, febrile respiratory illnesses, prescribed antibiotics and antipyretics, and missed school days than the controls, and similar benefits and a reduction in the loss of parental work were observed among their household contacts.

Theoretic coverage of heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the prevention of community-acquired pneumonia in children in Italy.

In order to evaluate the theoretic coverage of the heptavalent conjugate vaccine against community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) during the first years of life, the anti-capsular IgG antibodies to the nine more common pneumococcal serotypes (1, 4, 5, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F, 23F) were quantitated in 196 affected children aged 2-5 years by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays of acute and convalescent serum samples. Acute Streptococcus pneumoniae infection associated with the nine tested serotypes was diagnosed in 57 children (29.1%).

Efficacy of intranasal virosomal influenza vaccine in the prevention of recurrent acute otitis media in children.

To evaluate the efficacy of an intranasal, inactivated, virosomal subunit influenza vaccine for prevention of new episodes of acute otitis media (AOM) in children with recurrent AOM, 133 children aged 1-5 years were randomized to receive the vaccine (n=67) or no vaccination (n=66). During a 6-month period, 24 (35.8%) vaccine recipients had 32 episodes of AOM; 42 (63.

Seasonal variations in nasopharyngeal carriage of respiratory pathogens in healthy Italian children attending day-care centres or schools.

The aim of this study was to investigate seasonal variations in the prevalence of the nasopharyngeal carriage of respiratory pathogens and identify factors affecting colonisation patterns in healthy children. The nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis during two seasons (autumn and spring) was evaluated in 1580 healthy children aged 1-7 years by means of a cohort study conducted in day-care centres and schools in eight Italian cities. A questionnaire was used to obtain the epidemiological data.