一項為期4年的臨床試驗涉及了岡比亞17000例兒童，結果顯示給嬰兒接種對抗肺炎鏈球菌的疫苗能夠大大減少發展中國家兒童死亡與嚴重疾病。

該項研究的目的是探討在南部非洲城市內能夠預防肺炎發生的疫苗，是否同樣能夠在非洲農村地區環境中發揮作用。研究結果顯示疫苗接種將兒童死亡率降低了16％。這是最近20年來第一項隨機、對照的疫苗臨床試驗，在降低兒童總體死亡率方面顯示出統計學差異。

這項臨床試驗的其它結果發現，疫苗接種顯著降低了住院治療的需求。9價肺炎共軛疫苗預防由疫苗血清型導致的肺炎感染有效率為77％?？傆嬘?7％不到的兒童肺炎病例接受了疫苗接種。這種疫苗是由Pharmaceuticals 公司(Collegeville, PA, USA)提供的。

該項臨床試驗的參與者和資助者包括：英國醫學研究委員會、倫敦衛生與熱帶病醫學學校（London, UK）；世界衛生組織(WHO, Geneva, Switzerland)；美國國際發展局(USAID, Washington, DC, USA)。
 
Pneumonia Vaccination Reduces Child Mortality
 
A four-year study involving more than 17,000 children in The Gambia shows that vaccinating infants against Streptococcus pneumoniae could greatly reduce death and serious illness among children in the developing world.

The study’s purpose was to find out whether a vaccine shown to prevent pneumococcal disease in urban South Africa would also work in the challenging environment of rural Africa. The results revealed that the vaccine reduced childhood mortality by 16% in children. This is the first major randomized, controlled vaccine clinical trial in nearly 20 years to show a statistically significant reduction in overall child mortality.

Other findings of the trial were that the vaccine significantly reduced the need for hospitalization. The nine-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine was 77% effective in preventing pneumococcal infections caused by the vaccine serotypes. As a result, there were 37% fewer cases of pneumonia in the children who received the vaccine. The vaccine was provided by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (Collegeville, PA, USA).

Participants and sponsors of the trial include the British Medical Research Council and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (both in London, UK); the World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland); and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID, Washington, DC, USA).