Epidemiology of invasive childhood pneumococcal infections in Greece

A retrospective study was conducted to identify the epidemiologic characteristics of invasive pneumococcal infections among children <14y of age in our geographic region. During a 5‐y period, from 1995 to 1999, 590 cases of invasive pneumococcal infection were identified in Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece. The male to female ratio was 1.4:1 and 64% of patients were younger than 5 y of age. The overall annual incidence rate was estimated as 44/ 1 children <14y of age, whereas the incidence rate for children <5y of age was 100/ 1. The most common types of infections were pneumonia (472 cases; 133 definite and 339 probable), bacteraemia without focus (79 cases), and meningitis (33 cases). A seasonal variation of invasive pneumococcal infections was noted, with two peaks‐one during spring and the other during autumn. Only two cases with meningitis died and one developed permanent neurological sequelae, representing a case‐fatality rate for meningitis of 6%. Serogroups 14, 19, 6, 18, 23, 4 and 9 were the most prevalent, comprising 77% of 92 serotyped isolates. Conclusion: Invasive pneumococcal infections cause considerable morbidity in the paediatric population in the Athens metropolitan area. Sixty‐six percent of the serotypes causing invasive pneumococcal disease in our region are included in the 7‐valent conjugate vaccine.