§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 19 November 2001,Official Report, column 131W, on the pneumococcal vaccine, if he will set out (a) the remit and aims of the studies, (b) which persons or organisations are undertaking the studies and (c) when the studies were commissioned and when the work is scheduled to be completed. [18014]
§ Jacqui SmithStudies looking at the suitability of the pneumococcal vaccine for introduction into the United Kingdom routine childhood immunisation programme are currently being undertaken by the Public Health Laboratory Service. These studies were commissioned in 1996 by the Department as part of a three-year research programme. Because of the unavailability of the pneumococcal vaccines it was not possible to begin these studies until 2000.
The key question being addressed in these studies is how the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine performs under the two, three, four-month UK programme, in particular assessing whether a booster dose, or all three primary immunisations, are necessary. Information on potential catch-up immunisation schedules in older age groups is also being sought. The final results for these trials are expected to be available in early 2003. The effect of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on the presence of bacteria naturally occurring in the population (carriage) will also be studied.