Website intended for a NZ health professional readership
This article looks at the history of pneumococcal vaccination in New Zealand, including the December 2022 change aimed at reducing the burden of pneumococcal disease
1. World Health Organization. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in infants and children under 5
years of age: WHO position paper – February 2019. Weekly epidemiological record
2019;94(8):85–104.
2. Mungall BA, Hoet B, Nieto Guevara J, Soumahoro L. A systematic review of invasive
pneumococcal disease vaccine failures and breakthrough with higher-valency pneumococcal
conjugate vaccines in children. Expert Rev Vaccines 2022;21(2):201–14
3. Anglemyer A, McNeill A, DuBray K, et al. Invasive pneumococcal disease: concerning trends in
serotype 19A notifications in New Zealand. Clin Infect Dis 2022;74(10):1859–61.
4. ESR. Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Quarterly Report July–September 2022.
5. Eichler N, Reynolds E, Jackson C, et al. Invasive pneumococcal disease and serotype emergence
in the Auckland region during the vaccine era 2009–16. J Prim Health Care 2019;11(1):24–31.
Pharmacist prescribers Linda Bryant and Leanne Te Karu discuss positive polypharmacy for heart failure. Current evidence shows the intensive implementation of four medications offers the greatest benefit to most patients with heart failure, with significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality, heart failure hospitalisations and all-cause mortality
