The discussion on the benefits or otherwise of vaccination can get heated, so this study from the UC Davis researchers is particuarly interesting:
A comprehensive US national study has found that the introduction of an early childhood vaccine for bacterial pneumonia nearly a decade ago has decreased the incidence of pneumonia, but the drop was accompanied by a dramatic increase in the incidence of a serious and sometimes life-threatening complication.
The researchers conjecture that the doubling of the incidence of the complication, which causes pockets of purulence, or pus, around the lungs, may partly be the result of the vaccine eliminating certain types of pneumococcus, creating the opportunity for other bacteria to take its place.
Despite a 50 percent drop in hospitalizations from pneumonia due to pneumococcus since the introduction of the vaccine in 2000, and an overall decrease in all bacterial pneumonias, the empyema rate jumped 70 percent.
