The  primary  objective  of  work  package  3  (WP3)  is  to  estimate  the  effectiveness  (direct  effect)  and  impact
(overall and indirect effect) of available pneumococcal vaccines against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD),
community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and potentially against other respiratory diseases in adults 65 years and
older. This will be accomplished by using and enhancing the available surveillance  systems and existing data
sources in the participating countries to:

1.  estimate the level of individual protection and its duration from available pneumococcal vaccines against
specific and non-specific pneumococcal disease outcomes;

2.  estimate  the  reduction  in  pneumococcal  disease  burden  in  the  elderly  which  is  due  to  reduced
transmission resulting from routine childhood PCV programmes (herd protection, i.e. indirect effect);

3.  understand the timing and magnitude of potential increase in disease from serotypes not included in the
infant PCVs (replacement disease);

4.  determine the best study designs  and data sources to provide evidence on effectiveness and impact for
informing public health actions at regional, national and supranational levels.

Leaders: National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) & EpiConcept

Participants:

• SSI, Denmark
• THL, Finland (coordination)
  
• HPSC, Ireland
• FHI, Norway
• INS Ricardo Jorge, Portugal
• ISPLN, Navarra, Spain
• RIVM, Netherlands
• Health Protection Scotland, UK
  
• Department of Health, England and Wales, UK
  
• Santé Publique France, France (observer)
• EpiConcept (coordination)

Generic protocols:

• Population-level impact of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines in older adults: Generic protocol for conducting before and after studies on Invasive Pneumococcal Disease and Pneumococcal pneumonia <click to view> 

• Latest Generic protocol for studies for vaccine effectiveness against Invasive Pneumococcal Disease and/or Pneumococcal Community Acquired Pneumonia using the indirect cohort method in the European Union/European Economic Area <click to view>

            (Study site specific protocols are available upon request)