Invasive pneumococcal disease(IPD) has become a public health concern globally. GlobalData said that India leads the way with the highest number of diagnosed cases of IPD.
‘Pneumococcal Vaccines: Epidemiology Forecast in Asia-Pacific Markets to 2028’ Global Data's latest report said that there were more than two million diagnosed cases of IPD in the five growth markets i.e. India, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Urban China, with India accounting for more than 98 percent of these cases.
In late 2017, vaccination for pneumococcal disease was only introduced in children across three Indian states. Vaccination for the elderly is not a part of this program.
Topias Lemetyinen, Managing Epidemiologist at GlobalData, commented, “These two high-risk groups for IPD have been left mostly unprotected, which has contributed to the high number of cases in India. With the introduction of childhood immunization for pneumococcal disease in 2017 for certain regions of India, the trend is shifting and cases are expected to start declining.”