Prevention of pneumococcal disease: an update on the Belgian Consensus Report.

An ad hoc working party on pneumococcal vaccine with representatives of the Belgian Society for Infectiology and Clinical Microbiology, the Belgian Society of Pulmonology and Scientific Societies of General Practitioners reviewed new data on the epidemiology of S. pneumoniae infections in Belgium, on the efficacy and the cost-effectiveness of the 23-valent capsular polysaccharide vaccine. We discuss recent data on vaccination with a new conjugate pneumococcal vaccine, shown to be highly effective in children. The Working Group of the Belgian Scientific Societies endorses the recommendations issued by the Hoge Gezondheidsraad in 1993 and described in a consensus report in 1996.